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AN 

AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE 

OF THE CAUSES 
TVHICJfLED TO THE DEATH OP 

MAJOR ANDRE, 

ADJUTAm'-GEJVERAL 

OF HIS 

MAJESTY'S FORCES IN NORTH-AJHERICA- 
e JOSPJUA "HETT SMITH, ESQ. 



Kkun^ortatJ^atVy We Member of 




t?ie Convention of the 
ork. 



o which is added 

MONOUY 

JTH OF MAJOR AJVDR£, 
Y MISS SEWARD. 

NEW-YORK : 

PRINTED FOR EVERT DUYCKINCK) 

»rf. 110, Pearl-itreet. 

1809. 



iv. ADVERTISEMENT. 

will be stated, and proved. Hence there will be ho 
grounds for the exercise of malignant cavil, or partial cri- 
ticism ; and the inquirer after truth will be better able to 
draw his own inferences, and judge how far the narrative 
is worthy of credit. 

The author feels it his duty to apologise for any unbe- 
coming appearance of egotism ; for, as he was a party in 
the tragical drama, personification, in detailing it be- 
comes unavoidable : yet he cannot but lament the painful 
task thus imposed on him, of vindicating his own repu- 
tation against the illiberal attack of the Marquis de Chas- 
telleux, (a general in the French service, under the com- 
mand of Count Rochambeau,) in his work stiled " Travels 
through JVovth Ainerica, in the Years 1781, 1782, and n83 ;'* 
and also in another publication, recently and accidentally 
placed in the hands of the narrator, and from whence he 
has taken the extract with which the narrative com- 
mences. 

After a perusal of this volume, the candid reader will 
judge how far the insidious writer of the extract, just 
meniioned, from \X\c *^ Political Magazine for February ^ 
1781," has been influenced by truth or liberaUty ; — the 
author, will only generally remark that, ftom beginning 
to end, it is a mere fabrication ; and that, in those days of 
heat, jealousy, and party, when men's minds were mu- 
tually inflamed — when the standard of Discord waved tri- 
umphant, and friend and relative armed in her cause, the 
licentiousness of the press was carried to an unwarranta- 
ble height, and no rank, or character, however elevated, 
was free from the venom of slander. 



NARRATIVE 

OF THE 

CAUSES 

WHICH LED TO THE 

DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 



Extract from the Political jyiagazi7ie for* Februari/, 1781. 

"circumstances RESPECTING THE BETRAYIN(J 

OF MAJOR ANDRE. 

""TTyTHEN Major Andre went to consult with 
V V General Arnold, he was carried to the 
house of a Mr. Smith, brother to the Smith lately- 
appointed Chief Justice of New- York, by General 
Robertson, and also brother to a Dr. Smith, who 
lately lived in Dowiiing-street, Westminster, and 
who is said to have gone off the morning that the 
soldiers fired on the rioters, and whose negvo-wo- 
man was hanged for being concerned in the burn- 
ings. While Major Andre was communicating 
with General Arnold, he lived at the house of 
Smith, and wore Smith's clothes, and when he set 
out from Washington's camp, Smith attended him 
till within about twelve miles of Knightsbridge, 
where Andre told him he knew his way perfectly 
well. Just aftOT Smith left him, he was taken, and, 
at that very time, he hud on Smith's clothes. Wash- 
ington has tried Smith for being concerned in what 
they call Arnold's conspiracy ; but the trial has 
A 2 



6 KARRATiVE OP Tim 

turned out a mere farce ; for Smith has not suf- 
fered any punishment. The people at New-York 
therefore believe, that Smith betrayed Andre to 
the rebels, and are of opinion that he never can 
clear up his character any where but at the gal- 
Iows.'» 

THE gloom and melancholy in which my un- 
happy agency had involved me, as just described and 
Jnisrepresented, rendered it necessary for me to tra- 
vel ; and to adopt all rational means to obliterate 
the remembrance of the miseries I had endured : — 
hence I carefully secluded myself from those asso- 
ciations that might have a tendency to renew my 
affliction of mind ; and it is from this cause that I 
have so long been ignorant of the calumnies propa- 
gated by the artful, the interested, and the design- 
ing, to injure my character ; while the public have 
hitherto l^een precluded from obtaining a represen- 
tation of facts. 

Before entering upon the narrative that forms 
the subject of the following pages, it will be neces- 
sary to observe, that in the time of the American 
War, a fiee communication between Canada and 
New York, by means of the Lake Champlain and 
Hudson's River, was of the utmost importance, in 
order to facilitate the operations of the British arms 
in the meditated plan of subjugating the Colonies ; 
it was equally the interest of America, from every 
principle of sound policy, to counteract this measure. 
A chdin of mou lins extending along the banks of 
this river upwards of twenty miles, between Stony 
Point and Slaughter's Landing, near New-Wind- 
sor, prevented a regular ferry from being establish- 
<^d, to preserve the communication bet\yeeii thec^nt- 



DE\TH OP M\JOR ANDRE, 7 

ern and southern states, for the conveyance of sup- 
plies of provisions, and for the marching and coun- 
ter-marching of the troops of the confederacy It 
therefore became necessary that a fort should be 
erected for the above purpose, to check, any naval 
force that might obstruct the passage of the boats 
employed at the ferries. 

For this purpose Fort Montgomery was erected 
in 1776, and a strong boom laid across the river, 
guarded by two frigates ; the Hudson being navi- 
gable for ships of war of 60 guns much higher than 
this fort, and, at spring tides, for frigates near to 
Albany In 1777 Fort Montgomery was attacked 
and carried by Sir Henry Clinton, who passed it in 
his attempt to favour the decent of General Bur- 
goyne from Canada, in the autumn of that year, and 
in all probability a junction of these armies would 
have been effected, had the expedition been earliei^ 
adopted, as meditated by Sir Henry Clinton. The 
interception of a courier happened at tiiat time in 
a manner so singular as to be worthy of attention ; 
and to describe which I shall make a short digres- 
sion. 

The courier dispatched by General Burgoyne to 
General Sir Henry Clinton, was charged to deliver 
to him a silver bullet, and to give it into the Gen- 
eral's own hands. In case of surprise, if challenged 
from whence he came, or suspected of being an 
enemy, he was ordered to swallow the bullet, which 
would prevent the message from being detected- 
Having reached as far as Fort Montgomery, near 
New- York,* he made inquiry for General Clinton ; 
and finding, on being brought before him, that he 

* When tliis transaction occurred, the narrator resid<id 
in the vicinity. 



» NARRATIVE OF THE 

was not the person described to him as the General 
to whom he was sent, but that he was Governor^ 
Gefieral George Clinton of the 8tate of JVew" 
York ; he turned aside ^nd swallowed the silver 
ball. Being: observed by some of the attendants, 
he was immediately taken into custody ; when be^ 
ing interrogated as to what business he had with 
General Clinton, and discovering some embarrass- 
ment in his answers, it was proposed to administer 
an emetic, to ascertain what he had swallowed 
witli such precipitation. The idea was adopted, 
and the consequence was, that he threw up the sil- 
ver ball ; which being unscrued, was found to con- 
tain a letter from General Burgoyne to General Sir 
Henry Clinton, the purport of which was to ex- 
plain his forlorn situation, after the atttack of Gen- 
eral Arnold at the heights of Bremen. The cou- 
rier was immediately hung as a spy. 

Upon the reduction of Fort Montgomery, the 
royal force proceeded up the Hudson, to the vicin- 
ity of Albany, carrying fire and devastation before 
them. On both sides of the river the shores were 
undefended by mountains, opening to an extensive 
champaign-country, well inhabited by substantial 
farmers, of whom two thirds were unfriendly to the 
dismemberment of the empire by the measure of 
independence of Great-Britain. 

The town of Kingston, beautifully situated near 
the west bank of the Hudson river, was laid in ashes 
by General Vaughan ; it had been the seat of gov- 
ernment. The convention of the State of New- 
York had here formed their new constitution, and 
it was likewise here that Rose and Middagh, two 
leaders of the loyalists in that part of the county of 
Ulster, were executed, without a regular form of 



DEATH OP MAJOR ANDRE. 9 

trial, for their adherence to the royal cause ; this 
circumstance, with others of a similar nature, had 
rendered the place extremely obnoxious to the loyal 
followers of the British arms, and possibly might 
have occasioned its conflagration. A lar£!;e body of 
loyalists were forming at this time on the eastern 
shore of the river to join the royal army, but the 
advanced state of the season prevented the continu- 
ance of the British force in the river, and they were 
compelled to disperse on the advance of the Ameri- 
can troops, on the surrender of General Burgoyne 
in 1777. 

The name given to this place by the first Dutch 
settlers was Esopus : it is now called Kingston, 
and is celebrated in Chief Justice Smith's History 
of the province of New York, for affording the best 
flour and draft horses on the Continent of America, 
as well as a particular beer, in great request for its 
nutritious qualities. 

If the importance of obstructing the navigation 
of the Hudson existed merely in idea, previous to 
this event, the erecting of an insurmountable bar- 
rier against the British navy became now indispen- 
sably necessary. Commissioners were therefore 
appointed to examine the passes of the high lands, 
and a point of land projecting in the river on the 
west side, not far distant from Fort Montgomery, 
called West Point, was selected, from the natural 
advantages presented, for this purpose ; not only 
from the strength of the circumjacent ground, but 
from the narrowness of the Hudson, which here 
lakes a short winding circuit east and west, uni- 
formly different from its usual course of north and 
south. This defile was fortified by a strong boom 
thrown across the river, and a range of fortifications 



19 NARRATrVE OP THE 

ascending to the highest mount, a natural platform, 
on which was erected the strongest work, called 
Fort Putnam ; this was bomb-proof and unassaila- 
ble, from its strength and elevated situation, being 
bulH on und composed of rocks, of which the place 
abounded. As this post was not to be flanked, it 
wa J of course deemed impregnable ; in the confi- 
dence arising from which, it was abundantly stored 
with every military means of defence that the coun- 
try was capable of affording at that stage of the war, 
and made the grand arsenal of the main army. 
The communication above the garrison being thus 
secured, it was capable of being supplied by water 
carriage with all weighty articles, essentially re- 
quisite as well for defence as to render it a general 
magazine. 

This important pass was commanded in the ear- 
lier part of the campaign of 1779 by Major-General 
Howe, one of the oldest oflicers in rank in the A- 
nierican service ; he was a particular favourite of 
General Washington. General Howe had been 
previously in the British service ; was well versed 
in tactics, a rigid disciplin.-.rian, and was acknow- 
ledged to be an engineer of the highest reputation. 
He had had the command of Fort Johnson at Cape 
Fear, in North Carolina. Possessing these qualifi- 
cations, and his zeal in the service being evident, he 
Was iiigh in the confidence of General Washington. 
General Howe, upon assuming the command, con- 
tributed by military art to that invincible defence 
formed by nature to render West Point impregna- 
ble. Eighteen miles below West Point were erect- 
ed the two forts of Verplank and Stony Point, (the 
first on the east, the last on the west side of the 
Huason river) ; at the entrance of this range of 



DEATH OP MAJOR ANDEE. 11 

mountain, a ferry had long before been in use, cal- 
led King*s Ferry, and which was protected now by 
these forts, which were esteemed the dependencies 
of West Point, and considered as the key of the A- 
7nerican Continent. 

General Howe being desirous of a more active 
command in the line of the main army, immedi- 
ately under the direction of General Washington, 
the latter conferred the important trust of West 
Point to General Arnold, who, being lame from th« 
wounds received in the several actions in which he 
had gallantly shared, from the walls of Quebec tp 
tlie plains of Saratoga, was thought from those cir- 
cumstances, and his approved bravery, most wor- 
thy of succeeding General Howe. 

The prowess and gallantry of General Arnold, 
evinced in his rapid rise from the rank of a captain 
to a major-general, in the short space of three years, 
while it proved his courage and ability, justified 
Washington's appointment, for which he received 
the sanction of Congress, and the applause of tlifi 
people. 

The invincible spirit which he and his hardy fol- 
lowers encountered in their march through an in- 
hospitable desert is inconceivable. They proceed- 
ed from the camp at Cambridge to Quebec, sub- 
jected to cold, hunger, and fatigue, (far surpassing 
in difficulty and distress the march of Hannibal a- 
cross tlie Alps,) reduced almost to starvation, and, 
however incredible it may seem, compelled occa- 
sionally to eat the leather of their shoes and boots i 

During this distress, every man in his army re- 
collected the general's patient and indefatigable zeal 
at the seige of Quebec, where he received a wound ; 
his prudent and well conducted retreat through 



13 NARRATIVE OP THE 

Canada, and gallant defence of tlie American fleet 
on Lake Champlain ; the whole of his career in the 
reduction of the army under General Burgoyne, 
whose defeat was principally ascribed to Arnold's 
singular bravery, and his attack of the royal troops 
in Connecticut under General Tryon, against a far 
superior force ; all these circumstances had raised 
his reputation to the highest eclat among his fellow- 
citizens, and insured him the most perfect confi- 
dence in the army and in Congress. 

Although his conduct at first drew upon him the 
resentment of the executive council of Pennsylva- 
nia, when in the command of Philadelphia, and for 
awhile eclipsed his rising glory, yet a judicious 
court-martial, after the most strict and impartial in- 
vestigation, acquitted him of every charge that 
could in the least impeach his integrity ; and Gen- 
eral Washington, in confirmation of their decision, 
confer^'ed on him the command of West Point as a 
mark of special favour and distinguished approbation, 
and earnestly pressed his assuming the command a- 
gainst New-York, on the junction of the allied ai-my 
under Count Rochambeau. 

At this period he visited my house with his 
family, on his way to his appointment. I opened 
my doors v/ith hospitality for his reception, as I had 
done generally to the oflficers of the army, and o- 
tLer genteel travellers, being always ready to shew 
such attentions, from the amplitude of the means I 
then possessed. I spread my table with cheerful- 
ness for his entertainment, and conceived his ac- 
quaintance as an honourable acquisition. Little did 
I then conceive I was dispensing hospitality to a 
man whose defection from the cause he had so gal- 
lantly maintained afterwards astonished the whole 
world. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 13 

My house was situated on the nearest route, 
where all communications generally passed from 
the eastern and southern states across the ferry at 
Stony Point, about 18 miles below West Point. 
General Arnold's residence, while commanding the 
garrison, was at the house and farm of Colonel Be- 
verly Kobinson, who had relinquished them, and 
joined the royal army at New- York This resi- 
dence was situated opposite to West Point, on the 
eastern side of the Hudson, a dreary situation, en- 
vironed, with mountains, and no way calculated for 
the residence of a lady of Mrs. Arnold's taste, she 
being well qualified, from a most amiable disposi- 
tion, and every engaging attraction, to be at once the 
example and ornament of the politest circles. Be- 
ing at that time but recently returned from Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, with my family, Mrs. Smith 
was equally destitute of the society which each had 
been accustomed to in their respective cities. The 
intercoinse by land or water trom W^est Point to 
Stony Pvjhit in the summer season was easily at- 
tained ; they were therefore engaged in frequent 
visits to each other, and General Arnold wan as 
fre(iuently with me, in search of those culinary sup- 
piits, unattainable in his mountainous recesses. I 
feJt myself happy in rendering him every aid in my 
• power, and cuiiivated his acquaintance from mo- 
t lives of security ; for in my absence from the State 
^ of New-York, my family in general wt;re su§pecied 
<''' disaifc'ction to the American cause ; my eldest 
;vher, the lace Chief Justice of Canada, havirig 
n banished within the British lines at New-Yoik 
his ur.equivocal attachment to the Lngiish ' o- 
vcrnment ; another brother, who was gene ally 
• dt'Ctued an enemy to the revolution, and mvseif, 
' B 



U NARRATIVE OF THE 

were also more than suspected of being in the IMit- 
ish interest, from the circumstance of my beingago- 
pointed, with two other gentlemen of the coun^of 
Orange, a Doctor Cutwater and Colonel Sberraid^ 
(by a very large majority of the electors of iihst 
county) to oppose in the contention of delegates q£ 
the different counties of the province in 1.776, aiije: 
measure of Independence then recommended .asdk 
adopted by Congress. Indeed, such v/as the jear- 
lousy of the times, that to be descended imraediatdl^ 
from English parentage, or to possess any lubs)- 
warmness in the measures which the AmericnK 
leaders thought fit to adopt, was sufficient toToii- 
der the tenure of life, liberty, and property precaK 
rious. 

From the elevated situation I possessed, cccnn- 
manding an extensive view of the capacious Bayojf* 
Haverstraw, at this part of the river five miles Avi^li^ 
I frequently observed flags of truce passing and i'o- 
passing ;* and I took the liberty of requesting .t® 
know from General Arnold if there was any impi?©- 
priety in the simple interrogation, whether the flags 
were for an exchange of prisoners by cartel ? He 
answered generally, that in a short time the busi- 
ness of the flags would be explained. Soon after- 
wards, it was mentioned ai dinner by General Ar- 
nold, that the flags had brought letters from ColoneS 
Beverly Robinson, who. General Arnold said, was 
very anxious to make terms for the recovery of Vm 
estates, that had been confiscated to the public use 5 
and that Colonel Robinson was authorised to pro- 
pose, through his medium, some preiiminaiy 
grounds for an accommodation between Great-Bri- 
tain and America. Colonel Lamb of the Artill '"''"' 
* This was earlv in SeptpmLc''- ir?0. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 1 5 

•iBttWest Point, an old and sagacious officer, who, 
willi a number of other officers from the garrison, 
^was present at dinner, immediately said, that any 
prqpx)3ition of that kind ought with inore propriety 
lolba; made to Congress, than to a General, only 
^couoomanding a district ; General Arnold replied, 
ttbitt tl^c communication must at first be made 
^linrcjigh some channel, and here the conversation 

Samietime afterwards General Arnold, in another 
■msk^ seemed more communicative ; he expressed 
Ms diete station of the French allia7ice^ from the per- 
fefoiasness of their national character ; ridiculed 
ttllae solecism and inconsistency of an absolute mo- 
aaaaiEli being the ally of a people contending for free- 
'iism^ who kept his own subjects in the most des- 
jrDiik and absolute slavery ; thought it was an un- 
nuadmial union, of no duration, and that it was not 
UE^GSe; by France until she saw the Americans were 
aMc to defend themselves, which would be more to 
tlHacir ov.n national honour and glory. He then 
iiDusationed that he had received another flag of 
tfcriKDGL, and that Colonel Beverly Robinson had anx- 
aEwa^y solicited an interview, to be more explana- 
ttaaiy ®£ the propositions that were to produce, if ac- 
©©diiEdto by Congress, a general peace, and happily 
tteraminate the expence of blood and treasure, that 
%©ra; ruinous to both countries, in the prosecution 
«£ji war without an object. He said he conceived 
fljbsa; tilie overtures made on the part of Great-Britain 
Ibjriber commissioners, the Earl of Carlisle, Gover- 
laaOiT' Jiohnson, and Mr. Eden, (now Lord Auckland) 
■w«!ic founded in all tnncerity and good faiths that they 
lbl% met the ultimatum that the generality of the 
Amgi'icans desii'ed, but by what he could learn from 



J 6 NARRATIVE OF THC 

Colonel Robinson, the present terms held out went 
much farther than the propositions of 1778, and he 
inade no doubt that they would be the basis of an 
honourable peace ; this event, he said, he most cor- 
dially wished, bein^ heartily tired of the war ; and 
he then complained of being ill used by Congress 
and the executive council of Pennsylvania, which 
?iad treated him ivith injustice^ in not sufficiently es- 
timating his services.^ 

I requested to know from General Arnold if he 
had informed General Washington of Colonel Ro- 
binson's applications, and what was the General's 
opinion of the business ? He answered, that he had 
written to him for directions how to act, but that 
he was then gone to Connecticut or Rhode-Island, 
on a visit to Count Rochambeau, the commander 
in chief of the French troops, lately arrived from 
France. Soon alter this conversation, I accompa- 
nied my family on a visit to Fish Kill, a settlement 
about 18 miles higher up the river from Robinson's 
house, where I left them ; and stopping at General 
Arnold's quarters on my return, agreeably to his 
particular request, he solicited me to conduct a flag 
of truce to the Vulture sloop of war, then lying in 
Haverstraw Biy, for the purpose of bringing Colo- 
nel Beverly Robinson to the intended interview. I 
was so deeply interested in the object of this mcet- 

* At the time of this interview, General Arnold Avas at 
my house ; and, in the familiarity of conversation, he ex- 
pressed himself as fuiiovvs : — •' Smith, here am I now, af- 
ter having" fou^'ht the battles of my country, and iind my- 
self with a ruined constitution, and this limb (^holding- up 
his woiutded leg-) now rendered useless to me. At the 
termination of tliis war, where can I seek for compensa- 
t-ion for such damacres as I have sustamed r" 



DEATH OF jNLUOR ANDRE. 17 

as represented to ine by General Arnold, and 
tdinc scrceess of it was so congenial to my wislies, that 
IiDiDaide no hesitation to assure him of my cheerful 
CfflBDOirrence ; and in a day or two aftervv,a«is, G^7z- 
ami Aimold came to my house at Haverstmw with 
ttks Tsecessary fiassjiorts for my mission to the Vul- 



HMing/i/7>?S(f//'made the necessary arrangements, 
smdn as providing a boat from the quarter- master, 
Mi^r Keirs, at Stony Point, with every publicity, 
I -wiis surprised that he should request me to go in 
tilflc Ei%ht. He begged of me to procure for him 
Bnamfe from among my tenants that had been used to 
8M:m3iter. I stated to him the impropriety of con- 
aflag in a manner which I deemed unpre- 
sted ; but he overruled my objection by assu- 
that it was properly understood on board the 
?y and that the business was of a nature not 
t® Use generally known for the present among the 
ciffisEass. Having made the promise. I could not 
isxccdie', and with much reluctance I consented to 
g® ; Hasit he had great difficulty to pursuade my te- 
to accompany me, as they were intimidated 
ttline; danger of the undertaking by night, nor 
they have consented, although promised 
IsEmfeome pay, and menaced with confinement for 
non-compliance, if I had not appeared willing 
oaante nance the measure, assuring them it was, 
umiy opinion, for the good of the country, which, 
the representations of General Arnold, were 
lunj' inral sentiments. 

AcKordLngly, after General Arnold had gi\en 

tfflje (acder for muffling the oars, that we might not 

tie impeded by tlie boats that guarded the shores, 

ai fiiesautioa necessary, as there was a reguUr 

B3 



18 NARRATIVE OF THE 

water patrole, to prevent those disaffected to the 
American interest, or Tories, as the fiiends to the 
royal cause were called, from carrying provisions or 
intellif^ence to the British ships occasionally lying- in 
the river. This piecaution, however, staggered 
the confidence of the eldest of the watermen, v»ho 
bluntly tod General Arnold that if the business was 
of a fair and upright nature, as he assured them it 
was, he saw no necessity for any disguise, or to seize 
the veil of night to execute that which might be as 
well transacted in broad day-light. The watermca 
were simple, honest men, had been accustomed to 
their occupation, and were my tenants, in whom I 
could place the utmost confidence : and it after- 
wards appeared I was not deceived. General Ar- 
nold insisted on their pursuing the business, and 
assured them he had xXiq command of the militia of 
the country for 60 miles round West Point by order 
of Congress, and that he would give a countersign to 
the guard boats, that %ve might pass unmolested. I'he 
countersign given was Congress ; thus arranged, no 
farther hesitation was made to gain the Vulture^ 
then lying at the extremity of Haverstraw Bay. 
'I'he night was serene, the tide favourable, and the 
silent manner in which we passed the fort at Stony 
Point, at the mouth of Haverstraw Creek, precluded 
any obstructions ; in short, although the distance 
was nearly 12 miles, we soon reached the ship. On 
our apprOcLch we were hailed by the centinei on 
deck, ordered to bring to, and questioned whiiher 
bound ? 1 answered, with a flag of truce to the 
Vulture sloop, cf war^ upon which I was heartily as- 
sailed with a volley of oaths, all in the peculiarity 
of sea language, by the Omcer commanding the 
v»-aich on the quarter' deck, and commanded in- 



DEATH OF MAJOR AX DUE. 19 

stantly to haul alongside, or he would blow us out of 
the water. Upon comins^ alongside, I was saluted 
with another discharge of the same nautical elo- 
ijucnce ; and orders were given to hoist the rebel 
rascal on board, which was prevented by my climb- 
ing up a rope fastened to the main drains, and so 
reaching the main deck. I was questioned as to my 
business, and how I could presume to come on 
boad his Majesty's ship under colour of a flag of 
truce at night ? To wiiich I answered, I was so au- 
thorised by my papers, which I requested he would 
give to Captain butherland, the commander of the 
ship, and C^olonel Robinson, as I knew they were on 
board ; this request, however, seemed to have no 
effect; but he poured on me torrents of abuse, 
threatening to hang me at the yard-arm, as he said, 
another rebel had been a few days before ; being 
sievertheless unintimidated, and seeing Colonel Ro- 
binson and the Captain, for whom I had letters, 1 
raised my voice and said, he must be answerable 
for my being delayed : whether I was heard in the 
cabin or not 1 cannot say, but soon afterwards a boy 
came on deck and said " the cajitai7i orders the man 
below ;" he conducted me into the cabin, where on 
Kiy entrance I saw a venerable looking gentleman, 
whom I recognised to be Colonel Beverly Robin- 
son, dressed in a regimental uniform. He received 
me politely, desired me to be seated, and shortly in- 
troduced me to Captain Sutherland, who lay ill in 
his birth. Colonel Beverly Robinson having peru- 
sed tlie letter from General Arnold, apologised for 
retiring a few minutes, ordering some refresh- 
laent, and left me to converse with Captain Suther- 
land, to whom I related my uncourtly reception on 
deck J and his amiable urbanity conipensatal me 



^0 NARRATIVE OF THE 

for the incivility of his officer on deck. Having 
conversed with him for twenty minutes on diiferent 
subjects, Colonel Robinson returned, and introduced 
Mr. Anderson to me, saying he was mentioned in 
General Arnold's letter, for whom he had sent a 
pass to come on shore, in case he, Colonel Robin- 
son, should be unable to accompany me. Colonel 
Robinson pleaded indisposition, and said Mr. An- 
derson could as effectually answer all the purposes 
by going on shore as himself ; there seemed no re- 
luctance on the part of Anderson to supply Colonel 
Robinson's place, and he appeared in a dress equip- 
ped for the purpose, wearing boots and a large blue 
great-coat. For my own part it made no difference 
to me who bore me company, so that the object of 
my mission was fully answered, and the great na- 
tional ends obtained, which Arnold assured me 
would be the result of the affair. 

Mr. Anderson being ready, we left the ship, and 
were rowed in a short time to the western shore, to 
the place which General Arnold had appointed for 
the interview ; this was at the foot of a mountain 
called the Long Clove, near the low water mark, 
whither my servant had conducted General Ar- 
nold, on horseback, he being still lame from his 
Avounds. 

Very little conversation passed between Mr. An- 
derson and myself, excepting trivial remarks about 
the tide, the weather, and matters of no concern. 
Mr. Anderson, from his youthful appearance and 
the softness of his manners, did not seem to me to 
be qualified for a business of such moment ; his na- 
ture seemed fraught with the milk of human kind- 
ness. 

On my approach to the pl^ce of appointment, I 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 21 

foimd General Arnold ready to receive me ; he was 
hid umoiig ^firs. I mentioned to liini Colonel Be- 
verly Robinson's reason for not accompanying me, 
and the delegation oi a young- gentleman, a Mr. 
Anderson, whom 1 had brought with me, and who 
was then with the watermen on the strand. He 
appeared much agitated, and expressed chagrin at 
the disappointment of not seeing Colonel Robinson. 
He desired me, however, to conduct Mr. Anderson 
to him, which beh)g done he requested me to re- 
main with the hands at the boat. I v/ent as direct- 
ed, but felt greatly mortified at not being present 
at the interview, to which I conceived myself enti- 
tled from my rank in life, and the trouble I had ta- 
ken to etTect the meeting. At length they conti- 
nued such a time in conference, that I deemed it 
expedient to inform them of the approaching dawn 
of day. Shortly afterwards both came down to the 
boat, and General Arnold, with much earnestness, 
solicited me to return with Mr. Anderson to the 
Vulture ; but I pointed out the impracticability of 
effecting his wish, from the great distance, and the 
fatigue of the hands. He then applied to the men, 
who declared themselves unable to gratify his wish, 
through want of strength to accomplish it, and the 
ebb tide being against them. Convinced of the ap- 
parent impracticability of the attempt to reach the 
ship, and return before day without being discover- 
ed from f * her shore by the inhabitants, whose eyes 
were constantly watching the movements on the 
river, not only from the forts, but the surrounding 
shores, he relinquished his solicitations, and desired 
1 would endeavour to return the boat to the place 
from, whence we ftrst embarked : this, with much 
labour, and taking; the circuit of tlie eddies, was 



22 NARRATIVE OF THE 

nearly effected, (as we left the boat at Crane's Isl- 
and) when our attention was called to the cannon- 
ade from Gallows Point against the Vulture, which 
was compelled to fail down the river, and appeared 
to be set on fire ; Colonel Livingston, however, 
must have been totally unacquainted with General 
Arnold's designs, or he never would have fired at 
that time upon the ship. 

I will here again request the candid and liberal 
reader to judge whether any man in his senses 
would or would not have refused to carry Mr. An- 
derson back to the Vulture, if he knew the extent 
of General Arnold's plot, and the danger to which 
he was exposed in case of a discovery. If the pur- 
port of the interview had been fully accomplished, 
why could not General Arnold have given me a 
flag, to carry this gentleman on board the Vulture ? 
The fact is, he had not recovered the trepidation 
into which he was thrown on Mr. Anderson'e first 
landing, from what cause let the reader form his 
own opinion. Julius Caesar did not discover more 
intrepidity than General Arnold, who, in the many 
actions in which he v/as engaged, never retired with- 
out some scar or wound, as honourable testimonies 
of bravery. 

On my return home, I found that General Ar- 
nold and Mr. Anderson had amved long before, 
Mr. Anderson having mounted the horse my ser- 
vant had rode, when he followed General Arnold to 
the Long Clove, the place of Anderson's landing. 
He appeared vexed that the ship had been com- 
pelled to leave her position ; and, after taking break- 
fast, and my ague coming on, it being the day of its 
return, 1 w^ obliged to retire> as well on that ac- 
count SIS to recover from the fatigues of the night ; 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 23 

so that General Arnold and Mr. Anderson were left 
alone the tar greater part of the day. The conver- 
sation at breakfast was principally about the arrival 
of the fleet at New- York, under the command of 
Admiral Arbuthnot, the general health and spirit of 
the British army, and other desultory topics of no 
consequence. Towards the evening Arnold came 
to my house, and proposed that I should convey 
Mr. Anderson back to the Vulture, which had 
nearly regained her former situation ; he saw, how- 
ever, from the state of sickness under which I then 
laboured, with a fit of the ague upon me, that I was 
unable to gratify bim ; on which he proposed my 
accompanying him part of his way on his return to 
New- York, by land, as soon as my health would 
permit, on the removal of the ague fit ; to which I 
made no objection, as, when better, it would be in 
my way to visit and bring my family home from 
Fish Kill, being obliged to cross the river for that 
purpose. He soon after returned, and told vr.e a 
difficulty had occurred, of which he was not before 
apprised ; for that Anderson had come on shore in 
a military dress, which he had borrowed, from pride 
or vanity, from an Officer of his acquaintance at 
New- York ; that aa it would be impossible for him 
to travel in that undform, he requested the loan of 
one of my coats. Being nearly of my size, I lent 
him a coat : the other part of his dress, he said, did 
not require change. General Arnold then propo- 
sed returning to his command at West Point, leav- 
ing Mr. Anderson very disconsolate with me. I 
endeavoured to amuse him by shewing liim the 
prospect from the upper part of my house, from 
whence there was an extensive view over the capa- 
j^ cif>us bay of Hayerstraw, to the opposite shore ; he 



24 NARRATIVE OF THE 

cast an anxious look towards the Vulture, and with 
a heavy sigh wished he was on board. I endea- 
voured to console him by the hope of his being at 
the White Plains, or New- York, before her. Find- 
ing myself better, 1 promised to accompany him on 
his way. 1 could not help remarking to him, that 
I thought the General might have ordered a flag of 
truce from Stony Point, to have returned him to the 
Vulture, without the fatigue of his going to the 
White Plains, that appearing to me a circuitous 
route, unless he had business to transact at that 
place of a public nature. From this time he seem- 
ed shy, and desirous to avoid much conversation ; 
he continued to urge preparations for his departure, 
and careliilly avoided being seen by persons that 
came to the house. 

Previous to his quitting it, General Arnold had 
prepared a passport for him to go the W^hite Plains, 
and a flag of truce for me to go thither and return. 
Finding myself better, and refreshed with the rest 
I had taken, I ordered my servant to get the horses 
in readmess. and we reached the ferry at Stony 
Point betore it was dark, intending, if the weather 
should be fine, to proceed as far as Major De la Van's 
that night, at a place called Crum Pond, the distance 
of about eight or ten miles from the ferry, v/here 
I knew we should be well entertained, and take the 
dawn of the morning to proceed with more satis- 
faction. Between my house and tlie fort at StO" 
ny Point, oiu' conversation was principally about the 
taking and re-taking of that place ; I found my fel- 
lov>f-traveiIer very backward in giving any opinion, 
or saying much about it. W' e were met on the 
road by several officers belonging to this post, with 
whom we conversed very freely, x^nd shopped at 



DEATH OP MAJOR ANDRE. 25 

ihe sutler's at the ferry to drink with them. When 
we arrived on the opposite side, we rode up to the 
tent of Colonel Livingston, the commanding Offi- 
cer at Verplank's Point ; 1 heing well acquainted 

■ with him, he having served his clerkship and studi- 
ed the law with my brother, the late Chief Justice 
of Canada, and being also a relation of Mrs. Smith; 
he pressed us to stay to supper with him, but this 
Mr. Anderson seemed desirous to decline. As we 
proceeded, I thought he grew more cheerful, and 
as our road became better, we rode on with an in- 
creased speed, and had reached about five or six 
miles when we were challenged by a patrole party. 
On advancing, the commanding officer, a Captain 
Bull, demanded a countersign before we should 

• pass, and drew his corps about us ; he enquired who 
we were, the reason of our travelling in the nights 
and from whence we came ? I told him who I was, 
and that we had passports from General Arnold, the 
commanding officer at West Point, which we had 
received from the general that day ; that we \\ .^ve 
on the public service, on business of the highest 
import, and that he would be answerable for our 

IKletention one moment ; he insisted on seeing the 
passports, and conducted us to a house in the vicin- 
ity where there was a light : on approaching the 
house Mr. Anderson seemed very uneasy, but I 
cheered him by saying our papers would carry us to 
any part of the country to which they were directed, 
and that no person dare presume to detain us. 
When we came to the light 1 presented the pass- 

' ports, which satisfied the captain ; but he seemed 
I'Ctter phased when I told him I intended to quar- 
ter that night at Major De la Van's who, he Sctid, 

,. was a staunch friend to the cause of his countrv, 

\ C 



Q6 NARRATIVE OF THE 

would treat us well, and render every aid in his 
power that tended to promote the welfare of Amer- 
ica ; he soon began to be more pleased, and in the 
most impressive manner inireated us not to pro- 
ceed one inch farther in the night, as it was very- 
dangerous, for the Cow Boys had been out the pre- 
cedmg night, and had done much mischief by car- 
rying off cattle, and some of the inhabitants as pri- 
soners. Alarmed at this intelligence, I was hesi- 
tating what to do, when my companion expressed 
his wish to proceed ; but the captain suggested 
many prudential reasons why he would not advise 
t)ur progress at night. He particularly remarked 
that we had little chance of defending ourselves a- 
gainst both parties then out, as he had heard them 
filing some little time before he met us. AH this 
determined me to take the captain's advice, which 
seemed to direct the surest step for our safety. I 
accordingly returned a short distance, to look for 
ui^iit-quarters, and my companion reluctantly fol- 
lowed. 

Cow Boys was a name given to those who were 
in the British interest ; while the name of Skinners 
was the appellation of their opponents ; they werd^ 
a banditti, who indiscriminately plundered friend or 
foe ; and all those who were peaceable people and 
had property, wei e subjected to their contributions : 
a good horse, a fat ox, a cow, or a pig, were the 
particular incentives for plunder, outrage, inhuman 
barbarity, and even murder. This was the unhap- 
py state of a district more than fifty-five miles m 
extent, in one of the oldest and best settled coun- 
ties in tlie government, where, literally, brother 
was against brother, and father against son, fre- 
quently imbruing their hands in each other's blood. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 27 

All friendly intercourse was at an end, for each was 
jealous of the other, and no one slept safely in his 
bed. Many families hid themselves at night in 
barns, wheat-ricks, corn-cribs, and stacks of hay ; 
and, on each returning day, blessed their good for- 
tune that their houses had escaped the flames. 
Knowing these facts, from living so near the spot, 
and frequently seeing the unfortunate sufferers that 
fled from it, I was very thankful for Captain Bull's 
advice not to risk the ride by night, and cheerfully 
consented to adopt it. 

With no small difficulty we therefore returned 
several miles, and gained admittance into a house 
for the night ; while such was the caution and dan- 
ger of aumitting nocturnal inmates, that we were 
obliged to take to bed or keep the family up, who 
would not retire until they saw us safely lodged. 
We slept in the same bed ; and I was often distur- 
bed with the restless motions, and uneasiness of 
mind exhibited by my bed-fellow, who on observing 
the first approach of day, summoned my servant to 
prepare the horses for our departure He appear- 
ed in the morning as if he had not slept an hour 
during the night ; he at first was much dejected, 
but a pleasing change took place in his countenance 
when summoned to mount his horse. The land- 
lord, who was a very kind and civil man, (I think 
his name was M'Koy) refused to take any compen- 
sation f<y the trouble which we had given him. 
He, too, had been plundered of nearly all his horses 
and cattle He therefore most devoutly supplicated 
vengeance against the authors of the war, and wish- 
ed himself back to the Highlands of Scotland. I 
stopped at his house on my return. M^Koy's blunt- 
ness pleased my companion ; he professed himself 



28 NARRATIVE OP THE 

a loyal adherent to the crovvii. It was singular that 
the bcotch in the southern states were attached to 
the royal interest, but to the northward their prin- 
ciples were diametrically the reversfc, some few in- 
stances excepted : but to whatever party they ad- 
hered they discovered the national character of in- 
vincible integrity to their trust. 

We rode very cheerfully towards Pine's bridge 
without interruption, or any event that excited ap- 
prehension ; here I proposed to leave my compa- 
nion; but I observed that the nearer we approched 
the bridge, the more his countenance brightened 
into a cheerful serenity, and he became very affa- 
ble ; in short, I now found him highly entertaining ; 
he was not only well informed in general history, 
but well acquainted wiih that of America, par- 
ticularly New- York, which he termed the resi- 
duary legatee of the British government, (for it took 
all the remaining lands not granted to the proprie- 
tary and chartered provinces.) He had consulted 
the Muses as well as Mars, for he conversed fi-eely 
on the belles lettres : music, painting, and poetry, 
seemed to be his delight, fie displayed a judicious 
taste in the choice of the authors he had read, pos- 
sessed great elegance of sentiment, and a most pleas- 
ing manner of conveying his ideas, by adopting the 
flowery colouring of poetical imagery- He lament- 
ed the causes which gave birth to ^nd contumed 
the war, and said, if there was a correspondent tem- 
per on the part of the Americans, with the prevail- 
ing spirit of the British ministry, peace was an e- 
vent not far distant ; he intimated that measures 
were then in agitation for the accomplishment of 
that desirable .object, before France could establish 
her periidious designs. He sincerely wished the 



DEATH OP MAJOR ANDBE. 2f 

fate of the war could alone be determined in the 
fair, open, field-contest, between as many British in 
number as those under the commend of Couni Ro- 
chambcau at Rhode Island, whose effective force 
he seemed clearly to understand ; he descanted on 
the richness of the scenery around us, and particu- 
larly admired, from every eminence, the grandeur 
of the Highland mountains, bathing their lofty sum- 
mits in the clouds from their seeming watery base 
^t the north extremity of Haverstraw Bay. The 
pleasantry of converse, and mildness of the weather, 
so insensibly beguiled the time, that we at length 
found ourselves at the bridge before I thought we 
had got half the way ; and I now had reason to think 
my fellow-traveller a different person from the 
character I had at first fornted of him. 

This bridge crosses Croton river, a branch of the 
Hudson ; here we halted, and at a low house on the 
right endeavoured to obtain some breakfast, from 
an old matronly Dutch woman, and provender for 
the horses ; in this expectation, however, we were 
disappointed ; the Cow Boys or Skinners had been 
there the night before, and taken all the supplies of 
her cupboard, except some Indian meal, which she 
had mixed up with water, and boiled into a con- 
sistency, by the Dutch called sujifion. This, with 
the addition of some milk, from a single cow they 
had mercifully left her, was the only fare we could 
procure, and it being remarkably clean, (for which 
the Dutch of the country are deservedly celebrated) 
we made a good meal ; our appetites being keen 
from having been supperless the preceeding night: 
—While at breakfast I mentioned my determina- 
tion to proceed no farther. Having discharged the 
bill to the woman, in the local money of the county, 
2 



50 NARRATIVE OF THE 

rny companion requested me to lend him some, 
and I cheerfully supplied him with the half of my 
pocket amount, although I was afraid it was not 
current beiow that place ; the bridge being account- 
ed the south boundary of the American lines. He 
was affected at parting, and offered me a valuable 
gold watch in remembrance of him, as a keep-sake, 
■whicii I refused. The horse was furnished by 
General Arnold ; the saddle and bridle were bor- 
rowed of me, with the promise that they should be 
returned, or the value of them paid to me. 

Havinjj given him directions about the road he 
was to taKe upon crossing the bridge, with a mes- 
sage to my brother, the chief justice, whom he 
knew, w^e parted. I proceeded on my way to Fish 
Kill, taking General Arnold's quarters at Robinson's 
house in my route : 1 mentioned to General Ar- 
nold the distance I accompanied Mr. Anderson, 
which gave him apparently much satisfaction. His 
dinner being ready I partook of it, refreshed my 
horses, and in the evening proceeded to Fish Kill 
to my family. Here 1 foimd General Washington 
had arrived in the course of the afternoon, on his 
return from visiting Count Rochambeau, and I sup- 
ped in his company, with a large retinue, at Gene- 
ral Scott's. The next day I went on business to 
Poughkeepsie, and returned to Fish Kill the ensu- 
ing evening. It was on the 25 th of September, a- 
bout midnight, that the door of the room wherein 
I lay in bed with Mrs. Smith, was forced open with 
great violence, and instantly the chamber was filled 
with soldiers, who approached the bed with fixed 
bayonets. I was then, without ceremony, drawn 
'^ut of bed by^ French officer, named Govion, whom 
I recollected to have entertained at my house not 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 3l 

long before, in the suite of the Marquis de la Fay- 
ette. He conmianded me instantly to dress myself, 
and to accompany him to General Washington, 
having an order from the general, he said to arrest 
ine. The house was the residence of Colonel Hay, 
who had married my sister. The family was thrown 
into great confusion ; the female part especially 
were in the deepest distress ; indeed, the shock so 
much aifected Mrs. Smith, that she never fully re- 
covered from it ; and, which added to my subse- 
quent sufferings, was the cause of her death. I 
perceived that any opposition would be ineffectual ; 
Colonel Hay desired to know for what cause the 
arrest was made ? to which Govion would give no 
satisfactory answer. ,1 then desired the privilege 
of having my servant and one of my horses to go 
ivith him to General Washington, at Robinson's 
house, which he refused ; and I was inmiediately 
marched off, on foot, the distance of eighteen miles. 
At length on my arrival at Robinson's house, I was 
paraded before the front door, under a guard. 
General Washington soon afterwards came into a 
piazza, and looked sternly and with much indi^^na- 
tion at me ; my countenance was the index of my 
mind, and the beautiful lines of Horace occurcd to 
me, " Sifractis etillabiter orbis impavidum feriunt- 
(jue riiina:,^' Sec. On his retiring, I was ordered 
into a back room, and two centinels placed at the 
door. 

After as much time had elapsed as I supposed 
was thought necessary to gi\o me rest from my 
march, I was conducted into a room, where were 
standing General Washington, in the centre, and on 
each side General Knox and the Marquis de la Fay- _ 
ette, with W^ashington's two aids- dc'Camp, Colonels 
iUirison ajnd Hamilton, 



32 NARRATrV^ OP THU 

Pixwoked at the usage I received, I addressed 
General Washington, and demanded to know for 
whcit cause I was brought before him in so igno- 
minious a nianner ? — fhe general answered stern- 
ly, that I stood before hirn charged with the black- 
est treason against the citizens of the United 
States ; that he was authorised, from the evidence 
in his possession, and from the authority vested in 
him by Congress, to hang me immediately as a 
traitor, and that nothing could save me but a can- 
did confession who in the army, or among the citi- 
zens ut large, were my accomplices m the horrid 
and nefarious designs I had meditated, for the last 
ten days past. 

I answered, that no part of my conduct could 
justify the charge, as General Arnold, if present, 
would prove ; that what I had done of a public na- 
ture was by the direction of that general, and, if 
wrong, he was amenable ; not me, for acting a- 
greeubly to his orders. 

He immediately replied, " Sir, do you know that 
Arnold has fled, and that Mr Anderson, whom you 
have piloted through our lines, proves to be Major 
John Andre, the Adjutant-General of the British 
army, now our prisoner? I expect him here, under 
a gtiard of 100 horse, to meet his fate as a spy, and, 
unless you confess who were your accomplices, I 
shall suspend you both on yonder tree,'* pointing to 
a tree before the door.— He then ordered the 
guards to take me away. 

In a short time 1 was remanded into the room, 
and urged to a confession of accomplices, with 
General VV :tshington's declaration, that the evidence 
he possessed of my being a party, was sufficient to 
take away my life. 



DEAtH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 33 

I answered, that as a citizen I did not conceive 
Tiyself amenable to a military jurisdiction ; that I 
,vell recollected when he came forward IVom Phiia- 
ielphia to take the command of the army at the 
;amp at Cambridge, the provincial congress of .\evv- 
ifork addressed him for the purpose of preserving 
he rights of citizeiiship ; his reply to them was, 
hat •■' when he assumed the chLirc;cier of ihe soldier, 
le did not forget that of the citizen ; and that he 
ooked forward with pleasure to that auspicious pe- 
iod, when the rights of his country being secured, 
le r.u^ht retire to the sweets of peaceful tranquiHily 
muer the protection of the law." I told him I 
;ould not conceive that any simple recommendatory 
esolve of Congress, to which he alluded, could ab- 
ogate a fundamental clause in the constitution of 
he state, of which I was a member, and wluch 
lad, for the benefit of the subject, established the 
ight of trial by jury in all cases whatever ; that it 
vdiS a violation of that right, which congress had as- 
igned, amongst others, for their separation fiom 
J reat- Britain, and which had given birth to the 
>resent war. 

The General irritated by my reply remanded me 
>ack to my confinement. 

Some time afterwards, Colonel Hamilton came 
D me, and compassionately, as he said, recom- 
nended me to declare all 1 knew respecting the 
usiness of which I was accused, observing that 
[lany were mistrusted, who, if they confessed, 
i^ould be in a worse situation ; but as he supposed 
his was not my case I hud now a chance to savr my 
ife, and for the sake of my faniiiy j (>u(>hT to pre- 
ervc it, with many more expressions to tlie same 
;frcct, Sec. ^ 



34 NARRATIVE OF THE 

General Was^liington then came into the room, 
and questioned ( olonel Hamilton why we was so 
long speaking to me ? The colonel replied " Gen- 
eral. I know Smith ha$ meant well during his a- 
gency in this trtinsaction, for in all our public meet- 
ings at New-Vork his general demeanour spoke a 
spirit of moderation, nor could he be persuaded toe 
any other opinion than that this contest between 
Gr; ut-Britain and her colonies would be comproi; 
mised, as in the business of the stamp and other 
acts of which we complained to the British go-i 
vernment, in our petition by Governor Penn ; hia 
objr^ct and the principles of his family have beer 
uniformly intent to reconcile the sons of Great-Brii 
tain to their brethren in America, and in all sociaj 
meetings his language was, " United iveJiourisK dii 
-vide dnue fall *^ I must therefore declare my mine 
in saying that he ought to be discharged." 

General Washington then said in a gentle tone 
of voice, " Colonel Hamilton, I am not yet satisi 
fied ; take hin) into the back room ; we mustknov 
soiuethini^ more about this business'* I was thei 
conducted into the recess from whence I had beei 
brought ; and I entered it greatly agitated by thi 
extraordinary usage 1 had met with. 

I was about to take some refreshment, when ono 
of the centinels, posted at the door, vowed that if 
touched any of the biscuits that were in the room 
he would shoot me dead. The fact was, that th 
room was a kind of a butlery, in which Mrs Ai 
nold had placed her stores, and I was in the act c 
taking, a piece of the biscuit, not having had any su£ 
ten-ince from i 2 o'clock the preceding day. I therei 
fore began, among othet reflections, to think Mi; 
Washington, or some of the family, or suite, migl | 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. $5 

have some tenderness to the rights of nature, in 
the discharge of those officts which it requires; 
especially, as both at New-York and Belmont (the 
aanie of my residence) the laws of hospitality were 
well attended toon the part of my family and my- 
self towards General Washington. 1 was particu- 
larly intimate with the general's son-in-law Colonel 
Gustos, when he was at King's College, New- York, 
for his education, a foundation liberally patronized 
by his present Majesty, whose gracious benevo- 
lence was so handsomely attested by Sir James 
Jay, in his narrative of his mission to hngland. to 
collect donations towards the support of that infant 
Institution for the cultivation of science. He made 
his voyage in the year 1 764, the discharge of whicli 
duty is faithfully detailed by Sir James in his reply 
to Barlow Trecoticke, then alderman of London, 
Sir James is a brother of John Jay, who was the first 
American ambassador sent to the court of Spain, a 
gentleman of brilliant abilities, decended from a 
French family, who left France upon the revoca- 
tion of the edict of Nantz, in the reign of Jwouis the 
Fourteenth, for their adherence to the protestant 
religion. He was one of the framers of the con- 
stitution of the state of New-York, and was, with 
Dr. Franklin, at Paris, highly instrumental, us an 
American ambassador, in forming the French al- 
liance with America. Mr. Jay entertained a bit- 
ter enmity against pnestsof ail descriptions, ahd at 
length obtained his desire to have it ord Jned, as a 
fundanjental principle in that constitution, that all 
priests, of whatever denomination, having the care 
of souls, should be excluded from all secular or 
temporal power whatever ; and to guard ag.jnst 
all influence that the catholics might have in soci^- 



S6 NARRATIVE OF THE 

ty, any in the communion of the church of Rome, 
whether as emigrants coming into that state, or 
otherwise, should, before they held offices of trust, 
renounce the influence of all princes, powers, and 
potentates, by oath of abjuration. 

This gentleman was educated at King's Col^ 
ledge, so named in compliment to his present Ma- 
jesty ; he has since been in England as ambassa- 
dor ; he signed the commercial treaty, by the spe- 
cial direction of Congress, in President Washing 
ton's administration : and on his return to New- 
York he was, by the mercantile influence, electe 
governor of that state, the people knowing his at- 
tachment to the first principles of American o 
position to the claims of Great-Britain, to bin 
them by Lord Chatham's bill, called the Declara- 
tory Act, " in all cases whatever.'* This Mr. John 
Jay was a son-in-law of William Livingston, the 
governor of New-Jersey, and author of the ele- 
gant poem called " Philosophic Solitude ;'* was 
one of the committee of Congress who, with Colo- 
nel Livingston, drew up the address to the people 
of Great-Britain, declaring their reasons for the 
revolt of America from Great-Britain, in addition' 
to the Suffolk resolves, as they are termed, pre- 
paratory to the declaration of independence adopt- 
ed by the United States in the year 17.76. 

This commercial treaty not suiting the Frenph 
party, after Mr. Jay*s triennial government expi- 
red, agreeably to the period limited by the coor 
stiiution, he was removed from the seat of Govern- 
3i!:^nt, on that account, by the demagogues of the 
p :ople, and superseded by Governor George Clin- 
\.on. Mr. Jay J disgusted with this treatment, has 
been hcai'd to exclaim, as General Washington 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. S7 

did, " a refiublican is an ungrateful government J'^ 
Buonaparte thought so too, and hence all Europe 
are living witnesses, that tyranny, whenever it is 
let loose, will niake gigantic strides. 

I made no reply to the centinel ; but remained 
nearly two hours in this confinement, when I heard 
the tramp of a number of horses near the place 
where I was confined, and, soon after, could distin- 
guish the voice of the unfortunate Andre, and of 
General Washington and his suite, who soothed 
him with all the blandishments that his education 
^d distinguished rank demanded ; he was courted 
with a smile in the face, when worse than a dagger 
was intended for his heart. I distinctly heard Co- 
lonel Hamilton say to a brother officer, who came 
out of the same room, that Major Andre was really 
an accomplished young man, and he was sorry for 
him, for the general was determined to hang him. 
This expression affected me deeply, and reminded 
me of General Washington's declaration, that be- 
fore the setting sun, on the arrival of Major Andre, 
both of us should be suspended " on yonder tree." 
The justice of the measure, or the power of put- 
ting the threat into execution, did not for a moment 
give me any concern for my own personal safety, 
I knew he was enraged, nor had my replies to his 
questions been in any manner calculated to appease 
his anger. 

The sun was nearly down, and I listened atten- 
tively to hear my fate announced ; but all business 
seemed to be conducted in whispers. In the course 
of my examination by General Washington, in an- 
swer to his question, " Whether I had any written 
correspondence with General Arnold ?" I had an- 
swered in the affirmative, and that his letters to rae 
D 



38 NARRATIVE OF THE 

would prove the nature of my agency with him ; 
and I gave directions where to find the key of my 
desk, and the drawer where Major Andre's coat 
was deposited. Colonel Duer, of whom I shall 
speak hereafter, was a man in Washington's confi- 
dence, and was entrusted to attend to the search of 
my papers. Nothing could be done until Duer*s 
return ; it was late in the day when he went, and 
he could not go and return, the distance of forty 
miles, in the space of time limited for my existence. 
I therefore repost- d myself in confidence that I 
should have one night to collect my scattered 
thoughts ; and 1 resigned myself to the protection 
of Divine Providence. 

It was nearly dark, when a very respectable young 
gentleman entered the room, and politely desired 
me to accompany him. 1 was in hopes this was 
a prelude to my emancipation, and I requested the 
honour of his name? he answered, ''it is Wash- 
ington j" I said, '' I presume, Sir, you hold the 
rank of colonel ?'* He told me he held no rank at 
all ; he then conducted me to the back part of Ro- 
binson's house, where there were two horses ; de- 
sired me to mount one of thenu and by his guidance 
in a way 1 had never been, we soon reached the 
bank of the river opposite to West Point. Here 
I was delivered to the custody of a Captain Shep- 
pard, of the New-Jeriicy Continental Troops, and 
diti not observe I had been guarded by a troop of 
horse until I was placed in the ferry boat, and saw 
ihem follow Mr. Washington up the mouiiiain ; 
two boHts followed us. composed of the guard. IT 
I had had any inclination to throw myself over- 
be. rd, I was so well guarded, that I am certain I 
sheald h-pcjjeen t.;kenout of the water; for the 



BEATII OF MAJOR ANDRE. 59 

main object of General Was>iiington in detain fi: 
and tryint^ me, was to obtcdn the knowledge of 
General Arnold's confederates in the army, as well 
as in Congress. In fact, this defection of Arnold 
had excited such a general suspicion, that no (jsie 
dare trust another ; and nothing but execraiions 
were heard from imt to hut. 

I landed on the West PoiiU side of the river, 
and was conducted to a hut called the provost 
guard-room, where I was delivered to the cusiody 
of an officer, whose name I do not recollect. It 
was now dark, and I was placer, in a room in the 
hut without any light, and left to choose the softest 
board I couid find for a bed. I now endeavoured 
to compose my mind, and attempted to sleep, when 
I was interrupted by the provost-mardal, who en- 
tered with a pair of hand-cuffs ; he was accom- 
panied by the Reverend John Mason, of the Scotch 
seceders* congregation at New- York. The offi- 
cer was proceeding to place these delicate ruflies 
on my wrists, but was prevented by Mr. Mason, 
who offered to become my surety ; and I pledged 
my honour that 1 would not endeavour to effect my 
escape, nor accept the assistance of others for uch 
a purpose. Whether this prelude of terror was 
intended to iniimidate me, I cannot pretend to suy ; 
it however led me to suppose that very serious 
measures were meditated ag.dnst my life I'he 
i\.verend gentleman, after cor!;miseruting my un- 
happy situation, and expressiiig his extreme sor« 
row to find a branch of a fanuly thajL he so highly 
respected, placed in so dangerous a predicament, 
assured me that his utmost exertions should nor be 
wantinLc to alleviate the miseries of my confine- 
mitnt, and that if I would candidly declare to him 



40 NARRATIVE OP THE 

how I came to be in such a situation, his utmost 
endeavours should be made with the commander 
in chief to procure my enlargement. He professed 
to have considertible interest with General Wash- 
ins^ton, and said that he was sent by him to interro- 
gate me on the subject, and that if I would confess 
who were General Arnold's accomplices, he would 
intercede for my parole, to enable me to return to 
my family under a guard. The soothing and con- 
solatory conduct and conversation of this venerable 
gentleman would have induced me to comply with 
his solicitation, had I known Arnold's plot, but 
there was not a creature whom I could suspect to 
be in his confidence except Colonel William Duer, 
■whom 1 saw at his house at Philadelphia in the au- 
tumn of 1771, when on my journey to Charleston, 
South Carolina ; and respecting whom I had heard 
Arnold speak in terms of the highest commenda- 
tion. 

I mentioned to Mr. Mason the substance of what 
I had declared to General Washington, and he an- 
swered that the general was much concerned to 
detain as a prisoner a person for whom he had a 
high esteem, and from whom he had received 
marks of distinguished civility and hospitality ; that 
the commander in chief was the more enraged at 
the defection of General Arnold than he could 
have been at the treasonable conduct of any gene- 
ral officer under his command, from the uncom- 
monly spirited exertions he had made in the cause 
of his country ; and therefore he was led to sus- 
pect all around him : that from some of his papers 
left behmd, he appeared to have been engaged in 
secret speculations with the commissioners, as well 
as with the low suttlers of the garrison ; and one, 



DEATHOF MAJOR ANDRt. 41 

whom the commander in chief strongly suspected, 
had absconded. He a'lso mentioned a letter oi njy 
own among his papers, soliciiini; the restitution of 
a large quantity of Indian com, and wished to know 
upon what principle I made the demand, and w ne- 
ther I had at any time commercial dealings or con- 
tracts with General Arnold ? I gave him the strong- 
est assurances to the contrary, adding, that I merely 
applied for a return of that qu.'intiiy of corn and 
forage thai was forcibly seized by the commissa- 
ries to supply the extreme exi^^encies oi tiie arniy, 
then upon ihe point of disb.uiding, for want of pro- 
visions. They had taken from the tenants of my 
family estate, and other poor inhabitants, all the 
means of subsistence possesed by their families, 
and had given them certificates for the amount of 
such seizures, but for which, when presented to 
the commissary or paymiaster general, they had re- 
fused payment ; stating, that if they were to pay 
the losses, the paper money of the cohiinent won id 
not be of.the least service to them, the deprecia- 
tion then being at seventy paper dollars for one of 
silver, v/hiie congress had mude the standard at ior- 
ty. These poor people, therefore, applied to me 
to advise some remedy, and 1 applied to M.'.jor- 
General J^obert Howe, then commanding West 
Point, explainmg the peculiar hardship aitendmg 
the situation of these distressed fannlies. I he 
general, as a man of humanity, sympathized wiUi 
them, and desired me to collect theii* certificates, 
make up the amount, and v/hen the nifcigazjnes at 
West Point were filled, which he expec td ^^ould 
be soon, part, or the whole, of what was seized, 
should be restored, agreeably to the qu.;nturi) spe- 
cified in their respective certificates. General 
D2 



42 NARHATn^ OF THE 

Howe's removal from the command at West Point, 
and General Arnold being appointed his successor, 
were therefore the circumstances that induced me 
to renew my application to him on this subject. 
The distress of the inhabitants was actually so great, 
that in order to obtain bread for their families, they 
were compelled to barter their cattle, and what- 
ever property they could collect, as no other means 
remained to keep them from starvation : this state 
of misery induced many families to remove to a 
distance into the country, and suffer their farms to 
lay waste. They were, in consequence, charged' 
with being disaffected to the American cause, and 
upon the least suspicion that they repined at their 
hard lot, they were dragged before a board of com- 
mittet-meus generally composed of the most vio- 
lent Whigs of the country, and speculators upon 
the distresses of their fellow-citizens ; and upon 
the evidence of some who were interested in the 
spoil, they were comdemned as tories, and adher- 
ents to the British interest. On these grounds 
their names were entered into a book called the 
black-roil, and upon any subsequent assessment to 
raise money for taxes, bounties for soldiers, or o- 
ther public demand, not having the means to dis- 
charge the quota assessed, they were, by warrant 
from a justice, distrained of whatever property 
they possessed; to satisfy the rapacious demand ; 
and, in many instances, they were left naked, with 
their children, in the deepest state of misery. 

But to return from this digression, I gave my 
rev-rend visitor all the satisfaction he could obtain 
from mC; with many thanks for his consolatory ad- 
vice. He promised, on his departure, to send me 
some provisions, and a blaiket to rest on, an art?- 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 43 

cle which had not been furnished me, and he 
cheered me bydeclarini^. that if what I had stated 
to him in my transdctions with General Arnold was 
founded on truth, he could not conceive ray case 
to be desperate. He then observed, there was no 
knowing, from the irritation of the public mmd, 
what might be said agtdnst me ; advised me to 
speak little, and cautiously, to any person who might 
ask me questions ; and, above all, he concluded by 
telling me to place my trust in the Almighty, who 
had promised to be with the in who called upon him 
in trouble. He then left mc, s.'ving thut he should 
see General Washington, and in'orm me of the re- 
sult the ensuing day ; but I never s^w nor hecird 
from him afterwards, nor Wc^s either blanket or re- 
freshment sent to me that night. 

To some it may seem extraordinary that a cler- 
gyman should be commissioned to undertake such 
a business ; but when I mention that Colonel Ha- 
milton knew my partiality towards that tiuly good 
old man, they will not be surprised ; for if I had 
any propositions to make as a conditicm for my own 
safety, he might most naturally suppose, if i would 
commit myself at all, it would be to a m,an of Mr. 
Mason's amiable character. He is now no more ; 
but he has left a son, who is also a clergyman, and 
a shining ornament in his profession. 

It v.'us not uncommon in America for the cler- 
gy to dabble m politics ; as well in the pulpit, as 
on all public occasions. To this they were piously 
directed by congressional resolves, authorising them 
to pursue such conduct ; and in some instances 
they were appointed commissaries and quarter- 
masters. Of one, in particular, 1 cannot forbear 
/elating the following circumstance : he was the 



44 NAKUVTIVE OF THE 

reverend quarter-master Caldwell, and resided at 
Connecticut farms, near Llizabethtown, New-Jer- 
sey. This reverend genilemyn had taken an ac- 
tive part in support ot the American cause on all 
occasions, which rendered him an object of the 
keenest resentment among the persecuted persons ; 
the consequence was, that in June 1780, when the 
royal army in\aded New- Jersey, under the com- 
mand of Generals Knyphausen and Kobertson, in 
passing; by the reverend quarter-masier's house, 
they saw his wife at the window, and some of the 
new-levied soldiers instantly shot her dead. The 
story is related by some with shocking circum- 
stances of aggravation ; but it is generally believed 
she had come to the window from a curiosity to 
see the soldiers pass ; and it was surmised by 
others, that she had imprudently been the aggres- 
sor, by hissing them, or some other act of impro- 
priety unbecoming her sex. The reverend quar- 
ter-master himself was some time afterwards shot, 
for intermeddling with matters foreign to his func- 
tions. 

After Mr. Mason left me I passed the night in 
the most solicitous anxiety for the state of my fa- 
mily, whose distressed situation I described when 
first arrested by Colonel Govion. In the morning, 
the commissioners of sequestration at Fish-Kill, 
the place where my family resided, and from whence 
I was carried, without hesitation seized my pliseton, 
horses, and black men- servants, as well as a nephew, 
who interposed to effect their rescue, and who was 
apprehended and sent also under guard to West 
Point, as an accomplice ; but upon examination 
before General Washington he was discharged, 
and, by the advice of counsel, the property was re- 



DE.VTII OF MAJOR ANDRE. 45 

urned ; while my wife, and u sister, with three 
oung- children, were hunished from Fishkili, and 
n the road home to Belrnont were denied entrance 
t the inns, and loaded with the bitterest execra- 
ions by the inhabitanis ^s they passed ; in short, 
11 who were in any way connected with me, felt 
!ie cfiects of the popular prejudice 

On the morning; after I was cai*ried to West 
•oint, I was visited by many from idle cnriosity, 
nd interrogated by questions as impertinent as 
ley were cruel. 1 remained in this situation un- 

the morninj^ of tne third dc:y, with a scanty al- 
:)wance of provisions, and no other bevera,^-e than 
/■aler, although I ofTerrd to pay whatever the fi:uard 
ould require, for any accommodation which I 
light receive. 

I was at length paraded before the hut, and de- 
ired to m.arch, with :i strong guard, down to the 
inding. When I arrived, I saw thx- amiable Andre 
ear me, amongst a crowd of officers. On stretoh- 
igmy hand out, and preparing lo address hini) I 
as told by Major Talmadge, sternly, that no con- 
^rsation must take place between us. Soon after 
lis, two barges, well manned, rowed up to the 
nding-place : I thought we were to proceed to- 
other, but was soon convinced of my mistake, and 
as led to the stevnmost vehicle, while the tide 
vouring, we were not long before we reached 
;ony Point. 

A detachment of Colonel Sheldon's corps of 
)rse, commanfled by Taimadge- met us here, and 
as part of the same that brought Major Andre 

Robinson's house : we were soon mounted ; I 
is here placed in the van, and Major Andre in 
e rear. Stoiiy Point was about two miles and a 



45 NARRATIVE OF THE 

half distant from my residence. I was, therefore, 
anxious to see the state and situation of my proper- 
ty ; and, on making the request, my wish was in- 
duii^ed. rhe devasttition that iiad take n place nis- 
tressed me much, but more particularly when I 
found that papers had been taken from a private 
drawer in my desk, the key of which I had given, 
by Gv'neral Washington's direction, to the num in 
his confidence, Colonel Duer, whom I have aiiea- 
dy mentioned, in order to convey to the general the 
letters that had passed between General Arnold 
and myself. ' 

In this private drawer was the value of 30,000 
dollars in Loan-Office certificates, \\hich were aft 
terwards aJlowed by Congress in payment, at the 
rate of thirty in the pound. New- \ ork currency,) 
the par of exchange four shillings and six-pence j 
sterling. Finding the letters gone, which 1 wish* I 
ed to obtain for my security, I was not at a loss tci 
conjecture what had become of them. I foundd 
however, when I demanded those letters on m}| 
trial, that they were not produced; the persoij 
who took them was probably in hopes of my spec 
dy execution ; and. in that case, he would have re i 
mained unquestioned about them. I asked Coi 
ionel Duer, some time afterwards, for informatioil 
respecting the money and letters, when he assure* 
me that he saw no papers of the description ailu 
dcd to. The world, however, has not mentionet 
his name with extreme delicacy ; and he certaini ' i 
prevented my friends from saving much propcrt 
which was afterwards lost. , ; 

I was re-mounted again by the officer who a*j t 
tended me, and soon re-joined the troop which h? ' 
gone forward with Major Andre. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 47 



I We crossed the brook which the Marquis de 
^hastelleux speaks of, when the horrors possess- 

d him on passing; the house of Smith, where the 
iiberties of Angelica were bought and sold. ''I 

annot help remarking," says he, " on making 
this observation, that Smith is now confined against 
jusiicc." How rashly do some people judge by 
the current tale. Being a Frenchman, he wa^ to- 
tally unacquainted with the spirit of the great Al- 
fred, who, in ordaining the right of trial by jury, 
established the principle, that every man is presum- 
ed innocent initil he is proved guilty. 

At the distance of ten miles, we were allowed to 
halt, and dine at the house of Mr. John Coe 
I IN'ajor Talmadge, who commanded, here dis- 
played uncommon kindness. After securing Ma- 
jor Andre with vigilant videts, I had the honour 
of his company, and received many respectful at- 
tentions from him. 

After dinner we proceeded, by a circuitous route, 
to Tappan, or Orange Town, and arrived there 
about dusk. We were paraded before the church ; 
many of my quondam friends flocked round me, and 
from them I received the bitterest invectives. Af- 
ter tiie arrangements were made by Washington, 
IVIajor Andre was coni&rtabie lodged in a house 
belonging to Mr. Mabee of that village, and every 
attention was paid him, suitable to his rank and 
character. For my own part I was ordered into 
the church, and refreshment was sent me from 
Wasliington's table. Judge Heron, of that place, 
an old family friend, furnished me with a blanket 
to lie on, and a provost guard was placed at the 
church door, while two ccniinels kept watoh with- 
in the church, to jsrevcnt my escape, with strict 



48 NARRATIVE OF THE || 

orders to see after me closely. Under all this 
parade of terror, as many would have thought it, 
I felt myself in calm tranquiiiity, and a gleam of 
consolation glowed through my heart, from a. per- 
fect conviction of having done no more than my 
duty. I 

It will not be amiss here to turn back to Gene- j 
ral Arnold, and to account for the capture of Major 1 
Andre. I left the latter at Pine's bridge, and had ] 
pointed out to him the road to the White Plains, 
whither his passport enabled him to go, or lower if 
he thought proper, he being on public business, 
as was mentioned in his pass ; but he thought 
the road by the way of Dobbs' ferry, having the 
river as his guide, would be much th^ nearest route, 
and, having a good horse, he boldly ventured to 
take that road ; but he had not proceeded more 
than six miles, when he was stopped by three of 
the New-York militia, John Paulding, David Wil- 
liams, and Isaac Van Vert, who, with others, were 
on a scouting party, betvreen the out posts of the 
two armies. These men stopped Major Andre at 
a place near Tarry Town, and seized his horse by 
the l^ridle in a narrow part of the road. Andre, 
instead of immediately producing his pass, asked 
where they belonged to ? They ansv/ered, '' to be- 
low.*' Not suspecting deception, he replied, " So 
do /,** and declaring himself a British Officer, hi- 
treated that he might not be detained, being on press- 
ing business ! The law of the state gave to the 
captors of any British subject, all his property, and, 
of course, his horse, saddle, and bridle, were in the 
first instance a temptation to stop him on the least 
ground for suspicion, while, he being alone, they 
were the more bold against an inmrmed man. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 40 

rinding himself thus taken by surprise, and de- 
tained, he offered a very valuable gold watch, which, 
1 have before observed, he had begged me to ac- 
cept, thinking it would induce them to let him 
pass ; but this led to farther suspicion ; upon which 
they took him aside in the bushes and searched 
him, until they found his papers lodged in his 
boots ; another circumstance of suspicion was the 
coat I had lent him, which was crimson, with vel- 
lum button holes, bound with Prussian binding : 
the captors then conducted him to Lieutenant-Co- 
lonel Jamison, a continental officer, wlio had the 
command of about nine hundred men, mostly mi- 
litia. When MajoL- Andre was brought before 
liim, he passed under the name of Anderson, 
choosing to hazard the greatest danger rather than 
let any discovery be make which could involve Ar- 
nold before he had time to provide for his safety. 
With this view, to effect Arnold's escape, he request- 
ed that a line might be written to him, to acquaint 
him withAnderson's detention, which Jamison grant- 
ed. The papers which were found in the major's 
pocket-book, were in Arnold's hand-writing, and 
contained exact returns of the state of the forces, 
ordnance, and defences, at West Point and its de- 
pendencies, with the artillery orders, critical re- 
marks on the works, an estimate of the number of 
men that were ordinarily on duty to defend them, 
and a copy of a state of alfairs that had been laid be- 
fore a council of war, by the commander in chief, 
on the 6th of the month. These papers were en- 
closed in a packet to General Washington, ac- 
companied with a letter from Major Andre, avow- 
ing himself to be the adjutant-general of the Bri- 
tish armv. and was forwarded by Jamison, Wash- 
E 



50 Narrative of the 

ington at that time, was upon his return from Hart- 
ford, from his conference with Count Rochambeau, 
and the messenger missed him by taking a differ- 
ent road from that on which the general had gone. 
Through this accident, and the man being obliged 
to make a circuit, the letter to Arnold, infoi niing 
him of Anderson's capture, reached him a short 
time before Washington's packet arrived at Ro- 
binson's house. Upon the receipt of it, Arnold 
seized the messenger's horse, and instantly pro- 
ceeded down a precipice, almost perpendicular, to 
the river, where boats were always ready to pass 
to and from West Point ; he sprang into one, and 
directed the hands to row him down the river, and 
make for the Vulture ; but he had scarcely passed 
Stony and Verplank's Point, when Colonel Hamil- 
ton arrived at the latter, with orders to stop him ; 
for by the time Washington reached the house, 
the packet from Jamison had arrived. Major An- 
dre had been three days in custody before Arnold's 
design was known in camp. Had it succeededf 
the consequence would have been the termination 
of the war ; for on the loss of West Point, the 
troops under Washington would have been expos- 
ed, with the remainder of his army, to the united 
attack of ths royal forces by land and water, and 
general ruin to the American cause must have been 
the result, as Washington would have been taken 
with the garrison, a circumstance which appears 
from his letter to a friend on that occasion, couch- 
ed in the following terms : — ** How far Arnold 
meant to involve me in the catastrophe of this place, 
does not appear by any indubitable evidence, and 
I am rather inclined to think he did not wish to 
hazard the jpiore important ©bject, by attempting 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 51 

to combine two events, tlie lesser of which might 
have marred the greater. He goes on to say, " a 
combination of extraordinary circumstances, an un- 
accountable depravation of mind in a man of the 
first abilities, and the virtue of three militia men, 
threw the adjutant-general of the British forces 
(with full proof of Arnold's intention) into our 
hands ; and but for the egregious folly, or the be- 
wildered conception, of Lieutenant-Colonel Jami- 
I son, who seemed lost in aslonishn-ient, and not to 
have know what he was doing, I should have got- 
ten Arnold." 

But I must return' to the situation of Major An- 
dre. On the 25th of September General Wash- 
ington appointed a board of fourteen general offi- 
cers, (amongst whom was the Marquis de la Fay- 
ette and Baron De Stuben,) with the assistance of 
the judge-advocate, General John Lawrence, of 
whom I have before spoken, to examine into, and 
to report Major Andre's case, to form some judg- 
ment in what light he was to be considered, and to 
v/hat punishment he v.*as liable. 

INIajor Andre, nobly disdaining to shield himself 
under any evasive subterfuge, and solely anxious 
to place his chi^racter in the fairest point of view, 
so as to prevent its being discoloured by present or 
future circumstances, voluntarily declared more 
than v/as required, and did not palliate any thing re- 
lating to himself; while with the most guarded 
caution, and the most scrupulous nicety and cir- 
cumspection, he concealed whatever might crimi- 
nate others. When indirectly questioned respect- 
ing myself, he generously answered, that he would 
fully declare his sentiments, as they would have 
inore weight, froi^i his own peculiar situation. The 



52 NARRATIVE OF THE 

candour and itiagnanimitv of his conduct, unite c 
to the dignity of his depDrtment, while it struck 
his enemies with admiration, inspired an aifectin!^- 
tenderness for his situation throughout the Ameri- 
can army. 

On the 29th of September, the board of gene- 
ral officers met, when a number of questions were 
proposed to him : the judge-advocate, who was by 
birth an Englishman, and a gentleman of the great- 
est sensibility, was agitated with the tenderest emo- 
tion towards him, requested him not to hasten his 
replies to the interrogatories, nor to suffer his 
feelings to be embarrassed from the peculiarity of 
his situation ; and if the questions appeared to him. 
to be worded with am!:>iguity, to demand a fair ex- 
planation of them, which should be granted. And 
here, before I proceed, I beg leave to mention, 
upon good authority, that it had been hinted to Tiia- 
jor Andre by some of the officers who guarded him, 
or by some of General Washington's suite, that if 
he was demanded by Sir Henry Clinton in ex- 
change, it was General Washington's determination 
to relinquish his prisoner. When Major Andre, 
on his Capture, obtained leave to write to General 
Wyshington, he strongly urged that he could not 
by any means be considered as a spy ; these senti- 
ments he maintained when brought to General 
Washington at Robertson's house. From the con- 
versation which took place between Washhigton, 
the Marquis de la Fayette, and Major Andre, which 
I could plainly hear in the room wherein I was 
confined, Major Andre urged, that he c::me on 
shore under the sanction of a passport or fi..g of 
truce, transmitted to him by General Arnold, who 
was, at the titnc of granting it, a major-general in 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDHE. S3 

the American army, and, of course, had sufficient 
authority so to do, and " I clearly recollect the ila^ 
•\vas sent to Colonel Beverly Robinson, Mr. John 
Andersoj), or any other person they mig-ht airthor- 
ize to return with me.'* As much dispute had 
arisen at the time in both the Royul und American 
tirmies, on the justice and propriety of executing 
a number of persons, whether they were as cou- 
riers, sanctioned by flags of truce, or came under 
the description of spies, it was generally conceived 
"by the American army that the institution of this 
board of general officers Wtis for the purpose of fix- 
ing- some precise points to discriminate these char- 
acters, rather than seriously to try the major. No 
pi-ecise charge v/as exhibited against him ; the in- 
tention of the board, it was supposed, would be go- 
^verned by the. interrogatories before-mentioned and 
the answers to them, in the decision of the major's 
case. Baron De Stuben, who was one of the 
.board, opposed most of the general officers, in their 
opinion that Major Andre ought to be considered 
^s a spy, upon the principle, agreeably to the law 
'of nations, as established by Grotius and Puffen- 
dorf, who as well as more modern authors on the 
subject, declai'e, that an enemy, having once enter- 
-ed the lines of an enemy, or even the fortress of an 
«nemy, or his garrison, un:,ler the sanction of a flag, 
the commanding officer of that garrison or fortress 
being at the time authorised to grant such flag, his 
personal safety becomes guaranteed from violation, 
the moment a treaty is entered into for the delivery 
of the garrison, whether the surrender of the gar- 
rison was to be by treachery or otherwise. 

From these premises the conclusion is clear, that 
Major Andre cume out under every fair and jvisti- 
E2 



64 NARRATIVE OF THE 

liable sanction, and unquestionably ought to have 
been returned upon the demand of bir Henry Ciin- 
ton> through the very humane interference of 
Lieuteninnt-General James Robertson, purposely 
appointed to solicit the release of the adjutant-gen- 
eral, who was accompanied to Dobb*s ferry by the 
govenor of .New- York, by Lieutenant-Governor El- 
liott, and Chief Justice Williiim Smith ; that by 
their uniting the military and civil powers, as both 
civil and military characters were at that period 
piisoners of war on both sides, any impedinient 
to an exchange mightbe the more readily removed, 
and the horrors of war, as much as possible, aiie- 
viated by a generous system of reciprocation. Such 
a system would have proved beneficial to the un- 
happy prisoners on eiiher side, who were at tbut 
period deprived of those necessaries and consola- 
tions ixiost dear to man. What I mention as ti.e 
then sentiments of the amiable, virtuous, and hu- 
mane Earon De Stuben, were certain declarations 
which he made in company, when 1 was present, 
since the war, and deplored his having been over- 
ruled by a majority of the board, so contrary to his 
feelings of humanity, and sentiments of justice. 

Andre was fascinated by the alluring assurar.ces 
which prefaced the judge-advocate's addiess to 
him, as sveil as by the rieclarations given by the 
oiTicers, servants, and q.ther attendants of General 
Washington ; but he was no less confident from 
the fi.rm ground on which he stood, he being invit- 
ed on shore by General Arnold, who had the same 
pt)wer, in his ovv'n separate command, to give him 
that invitation, agreeably to the resolve of Congress, 
as General Washington himself; for surely no 
man had served his country, not even "Wcshington, 



DEATH OF MAJOR AXDIIE. 55 

Avitli more intrepidity, zeal, and fixlelity ; nor had 
he gained more honourable applause, eilher in the 
army of the United States, or amon:^ the citizens 
at large. It may be said, that the business was of a 
traitorous natui'c, and of whicli Major Andre w?s 
well informed : but if we allow this to be the fact, 
it does not contiavene the general system, " that 
stratagems are justifiable in war." If this were a 
cvime, the criminality rested on the officer who 
made the defection, not on the gallant major who, 
in full uniform, in discharge of the duty due to his 
king and country, boldly went out to receive tlje 
terms and conditions of a returning rebel to the 
allegiance of his sovereign ; and in which return 

I he was actuated by a sense of his former infamy, 
•^vhen injured by those who had refused justice to 

i 5iis claims, for faithful service, in /"//«/' behalf, which 
h^d procured him nothing but broken liuibs, and a 
debilitated constitution. 

Here we see Major Andre, in the discharge of 
liis duty, acting in obedience to his sovereign's pro- 
-clamation, and the injunctions by his majesty's 
commissioners of 1778, engaged for pacification, 
■namely, those amiiable characters the Earl of Car- 
lisle, Govenor Johnson, and the benevolent and 
highly informed Lord Auckland, late president of 
the Board of Trade and Plantations. But the Mar- 
quis De Chastelleux, while he pays many compli- 
ments to the adjutant-general, in his Travels in 
1780, 1781, 1782, and 1783, stiles him the iin/iru- 
dent Andre : on Vv hich I will only remark, that if 

J, the marquis was horror-stricken when passing over 

■a small brook near to, and after leaving ray house 
in the rear, plundered, forlorn, and destitute, by that 
devastating spirit that has depopulated half his own 



/'6 NARRATIVE OP THE 

country, and decapitated the sovereign he then 
served, it would be curious to know v,hciher he 
thought he w^^ jirudent^ to leave his own country, 
when in the service of his king, and enroll himself 
in the ranks of a faction, whose principles were 
more demoniac than those of the murdering Rob- 
espierre, or the insulting Corsican ; and luore san- 
guinary than Cromwell's. Major Andre, influ- 
enced by those sternly noble principles, which ani- 
mate the breast of every virtuous freeman, thought 
no sacrifice dearly bought that could rescue two 
countries, so blended oy law, similarity of manner, 
habit, consanguinity, and religion, from tiie insidi- 
ous rapacity of the Gallic yoke. 

The board of general officers having assembled, 
in apparently solemn sanctity, by reiteration of the 
same question in different words and modifications^! 
of language, at length extracted from the defence- j 
less, friendless Andre something like adeciaratioa j 
that he could not return on board the Vulture un- j 
the sanction of the flag that had brought him on j 
shore, from whence they inferred, he did not con- * 
ceive himself under the protection of that flag after 
he was once landed within the American lines : 
nor indeed could he, from the reasons already sta- 
ted, namely, the change of dress, which ho declar- 
ed, in his letter to ^ir Henry Clinton, was in-jposed 
upon him, as well as the mode of return. He 
generously forbore to assign to them the reasons 
which had induced General Arnold, and which Ar- 
jicld had mentioned to him, to prefer retuniing 
him by land to New-York, and also lest, by saying 
too much, he might crimhiate others, for whose 
. preservation he appeared more solicitous than for 
himself. Noavitnc^cs were adduced, ijor could any 



m: A.T1 1 OF M \ JOR ANDRE, 57 

be brought who had the slightest knowledge of the 
►secret part ol" tius transaction ; of course, none 
'were called ; and the board of general ofiiccrs pro- 
ceeded, after making a statement of some facts, to 
v'it, that he had quitted his uniform v/hich lie had 
worn under his surtout, for a coat given to me in 
exchange for one of my own, a crimson broad cloth, 
vellum button haled, and bound with Prussian bind- 
ing ; that he was furnished with a horse, and, un- 
der the assumed name of John Anderson, with a 
passport from General Arnold, was proceeding to- 
wai-ds New-York, when he was stopped by John 
Paulding. David Williams, and Isaac Van Vert, 
three of the New- York militia, who with others* 
were scouting between the out-posts of the two ',^^ 
mies ; from which facts the board of general c^^" 
*ers proceeded to declare, " IViat Major John ^^^ 
ch-e, adjutant-general of the British armij^ cug^^ ^* 
be considered as a sf-iy from the enemy ^ and ~^^' 
agreeably to the lavj and usage ofnatlo7is^ it is^] ^^" 
ojiiiiion he ought to suffer death.'' ^^" » 

This adjudication was passed on the 25'^^"^ 

September; Major Andre was captured on ^" 

23d; General Arnold made his escape or*^°/P 

25th ; and on the 26th, Sir Henry Clinton w'"^^7 

to General Washington to rechdm Major A; . ^ 

On the oOth, General Washington answered {^^^"^ 

>eral Clinton; in his letter he says — " that thoi?.^"' 

Major Andre was under such circumstances 'f!^ 

^vouldhave justified the most summary proceedinr^ 

I against him, he had referred his case to the exami- 

I niuion and decif^ion of a board of general officer'^, 

whose rcpr>rt, founded on his free and voluntary 

-confession of hi? letters, was enclosed." 

Here I must remark, that the sentence of the 



58 NARRATIVE OF THE 

board of general officers was by no means vmani- 
mous, and the lettGYfroin Major Jndre^ assigning 
Ills reasons, why he ought not to have been consider- 
ed as a sjiy^ ivas not traiismitted by General Wash- 
ington. I refer to the letter that the major wrote 
when under the custody of ColonelJaniibon, which 
placed ^lajor Andre's character and abiiilies in the 
most amiable point of view. 

This letter from General Washington was im- 
mediately answered by another from Sir Henry 
(Clinton, containing a proposition to send General 
Robertson, with the gentleman I mentiond, and re- 
quested Washington safely to conduct them to 
^ neet himself, or whomsoever he should appoint, 
give him a statement of facts, and to explain Sir 
^" ^Miry's sentiments on the subject. " He urged it 
^fT' poi"^ of the highest concern to hum.uiity, that 
^ icral Washington should fully understand tiio 
^^^''e state of the business, before he proceeded 
^v^^ Irry the judgment of the board into execution." 
^^^ ^ enerai Greene, who had presided at this board, 
^^?^^ appointed to meet General Robertson. He 
^^^^'^ discovered the severest malignity ag;\inst Ma- 
^^y^^idre from the first hour of his capture, and, 
nor i"'v,jm^^^Qj-j ^y^j.^ ^\-^q Marquis de la Fayette, was 
^^ ' .^"-mined to take his life ; while La r ayette pub- 
"> ^' declared, that General Washin.>-ton himself 
"P^^xrved the halter, if he did not apj.'iy it to the 
^^lifortunate Andre. Greene met G«^ncral Kobert- 
^son at Dobbs's ferry ; the other two gentlemen be- 
fore-mentioned were not permitted to come on 
shore ; for the fact was. that their supciior abilities, 
virtue, and integrity of character, we-e well known, 
and equally dreaded. It will not be amiss here to 
take some notice of the character, and the princi- 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 59 

pies which assuredly influenceed the conduct of 
General Greene, though 1 am ready to give him 
;\ll the advantage of " de mortids nil nisi bonum^* 
which applies here as well to Major Andre as him- 
self, and also to many others in this tragical drama, 
who now, in the energetic language of Dr. Young, 
are " with the years beyond the floor]." 

Yet this general rule of tenderness to the frail- 
ties of human nature, adopted by philanthropists, if 
attended to, respects the dead, while it injures the 
living, by preventing posterity from having the light 
of biographical experiance ; for surely it is wisdom 
to regulate life by the sage conduct of those whose 
career in the various pans of it has been stamped 
with honourable applause, or has been degraded 
by merited infamy. It Avas a fixed system with 
General Washington " to take the passions of men 
as nature had given them, and those principles as 
a guide, which are generally the rule of action.'* 
General Greene was of the quaker persuasion, al- 
though a military man ; a ludicrous contradiction ; 
for that sect are well known to possess an aversion 
to arms ; yet General Greene took to the field, and 
none of the American officers displayed a more 
martial spirit than himself, except General Arnold. 
General Greene, from the first, viev/cd Arnold's 
rapid advancement and military achievements with 
envy, and I have witnessed with no small concern, 
when in company with them both, that " ^filenetic 
cordiality^ " as Sterne expresses the idea, which is 
the eternal compaiiion of competitors, an^bitious 
for renown. 

It was v/ell known that General Greene's mind, 
previous to engaging in the service of his country, 
was i:1istempered by f)ne of the most paiftful domes- 



60 NARRATIVE OF THE 

lie calamities, that could agonise the soui of a man of 
spirit. This ostensible misery had followed him 
to the camp at Orange Town ; too many flagrant 
proofs had blunted the edge of those fine feelings 
known only to sympathetic spirits, drawn irresisti- 
bly by the silken ties of disinterested affection ; ap- 
proved by ixjason, cemented by love ; sanctioned 
by virtue, and applauded by angels : General 
Greene, in short, was chagrined by the comparative 
happiness which his competitor for fame enjoyc' ■ 
in obtaining the amiable Miss Shippen, of Philade". 
phia, of whicli city she was the ornament and pride. 
By every insinuating address he courted the fa- 
vour of General Washington, who appointed him 
to the presidency of this board of general officersj 
in preference to General Robert Howe, a gentle- 
man and a philanthropist, who was not so well 
calculated for conniving at the decree. Indeed, the 
defection of General Arnold was so great a sur- 
prise, that General Washington knew not in whom 
to confide, each of his officers being envious of the 
other, and suspicions engendered by former jeal- 
ousies spread abroad, while Pandora's poisonous 
box was opened for their reception : General 
Greene availed himself of every malignant, deadly 
mischief flowing from it, and improved the occa- 
sion to manifest his fatal determination. This ge 
neral was therefore selected and appointed for tb . 
interview with General Robertson ; who, by tlic 
clearest reasoning, demonstrated that Major Andre 
did not come under the char?xter or description of 
a spy, and proposed that General Knyphausen, of 
the auxiliary troops, in the service of his Britan- 
nic Majesty, on the one part, and General Count 
Rochambean* as not so immedi:\tc]v ii"iteT'cste> 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 6 { 

shouki be consulted, and their opinions taken on a 
subject so interesting to the cause of humanity. 
General Robertson, indeed, made use of every ar- 
gument to induce a re -consideration of Major An- 
dre's case ; but the proposed reference was not ac- 
ceded to by General VVashini>'ton, He quoted and 
proved many instances of Sir Henry Clinton's mer- 
ciful inclination of mind, in cases where, upon 
similiar applications, bir Henry had softened the 
rigorous severities of war ; and, in the most im- 
pressive language, in\ged the necessity of adopting 
a reciprocal disposidon of amity, as most compatible 
with the genuine spirit of real bravery ; offering, on 
the discharge of Major Andre, to engage that any 
person whatever, in the custody of the opposite 
party, should be immediately restored to his liber- 
ty ; adding, that Sir. Henry Clinton entertained a 
high esteem for Major Andre, and wished an in- 
terchange of such civilities, as would lay himself 
under the most permanent obligations; in short, 
every persuasion that could be urged, was resorted 
to by General Robertson, that could excite the 
commiseration of any other man but General 
Greene, who even refused to deliver the purport of 
General Robertson's proposal of vesting the deci- 
sion as recited, or of mentioning any of the argu- 
ments adduced by Robertson to General Washing- 
ton. Such unfeeling apathy might, however, have 
been anticipated by those who knew the unfeeling 
principles by which that general Wcis influenced. 

No gentle miai, perhaps, possessed the powers of 
persuasion in a more eminent degree than Lieu- 
teaant-G encral Robertson. He was a Scoichman, 
a native of Fifeshire ; and with the firm, integrity 
of his countivmcn, he uaited the experience of a 
F 



62 NARRATIVE OF THE 

reteran, in policy and military knowledge. His 
adroit and perspicuous answers, when examined 
before the House of Commons, were at once a dis- 
play of his abilities as a soldier, and -of his inflexible 
loyalty as a Briton. The wisdom of government 
was never more demonstrated than in his appoint- 
ment to the chief civil authority as governor of 
New-York, that city having been Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral Robertson's residence since the pacification of 
1760. He was well known and equally beloved by 
the inhabitants of the province ; and when colonel 
of his majesty's 1 6th regiment of foot, during the 
troubles that agitated the minds of the inhabitants, 
in consequence of their discontents, arising from 
the stamp and other acts of parliament, which were 
deemed obnoxious, he invariably was the mediator 
between the civil and military powers. Hence, by 
his wisdom and discreet deportment, a spirit of 
harmony was cultivated and maintahied ; and 
there never was a governor appointed by the crown, 
who more fully possessed the hearts of the people, 
except Governor Clinton, the father of Sir Henry 
Clinton, the commander in chief, who was the idol 
of the province. This fact is mentioned in Chief 
Justice Smith's History of New-York. Lieutenant 
General Robertson, with such abilities, of course, 
became the most eligible person for a mission of 
humane and political a nature, uniting in his per- 
son the civil and military characters, which well 
qualify him to effect the exchange in the propo- 
sal solicited by Sir Henry Clinton. 

By the long residence of General Robertson in 
New- York, he was well acquainted with the cant- 
ing disposition and character of his Eastern neigh- 
bours, who, having incessantly the sound of reli- 
gion on the tongue, as a mask more effectually to 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 63 

deceive and surprise the unwary, are never really 
known until deception discovers their hypocrisy.* 

Upon General Robertson's departure from Ge- 
neral Greene, he pathetically urged the re-consid- 
eration of the subject of their interview. But 
Greene being determined not to alter the decision 
of the board of general officers, of which he was 
president, did not relate to General Washington 
the particulars of the interview, which in the 
then state of General Washington's mind, would 
certainly have saved the life of Major Andre, or, at 
least, would have mitigated the punishment. Yov 
this apathetic and inhuman silence, Congress effec- 
tually remunerated Greene, by given him a valu- 
able plantation, in the state of Georgia, the meed 
of his ihdefatigable services, but which was, ulti- 
mately, his bane, and the caus of his premature 
death ; for depending too much upon his hardy 
constitution, contrary to the advice of his friends, 
he would, to accomplish the duties, and acquire the 
simple character of a planter, venture out, and 
subject himself to the meridian blaze of the sun, 
in order to superintend his negro labourers : in one 
of these perambulations he received the " cou/i de 
solieL^^ or, stroke of the sun, as the P'rench West- 
Indians term the effects which Europeans feel 
from too great an exertion, while svibjected to the 
solar heat ; and fell a victim to his own obstinacy, 
unrelented by some, and deplored by others ; for 
political attachments bore their preponderance in 
that unhappy, divided, and distracted country, till 
the last hour of the unfortunate war ; and even 
now they are far, very far, from extinction. In the 
minds of some this general still lives, and is con- 
sidered as the deputy-saviour of his country. Ho- 

* This is a malignant reflection, void of truth. A, P. 



*4 NARRATIVE OF THE 

saniia one hour, and crucify the next, was the pre- 
vailing principle among some Americans I « Sic 
irafisit gioria mundi /" 

The malignity, virulence, and savage barbarity 
that, at the above-mentioned time pervaded all 
ranks, classes, and denominations, whether in the 
civil or military line, cannot be delineated in any 
terms but such as must agonize the heart of sen- 
sibility, and cause a blush on the cheek of civilized 
humanity ; and the baneful effects of which were 
not eradicated so late as the year 1801. When, 
at a place called Ninety Six, and at Augusta, in 
Georgia, in a large company, among the gentry of 
the country, where, it would be supposed, humani- 
ty would prevail, were it only through decency, and 
with a view to example, 1 heard them boast of 
having committed barbarities shocking to human 
nature. One instance was that of an old, grey- 
headed justice of the peace, who solemnly declar- 
ed he had, during the war, shot, at different actions, 
and in cold blood, ninety-nine Tories, and felt un- 
happy he had not accomplished the complete hun- 
dred ! Shocked at the ferocity of this sanguinary 
monster, I pressed my friend and fellow-traveller 
to make a precipitate departure, although we had 
rode a great distance that day, and were both fa- 
tigued and hungry ; he was of my opinion, and we 
therefore left the cannibal-justice to try some cau- 
ses which, he said, would afford some sport, being 
only a few bastardies, rapes, and similar trifles, as 
he termed them ; indeed, before we got off, he 
went to the full fruition of his mirth, the bottle 
and the bible, inseparable companions in that coun- 
try, during their summary modes of adjudication ! 
'>Vc v/ere, in fafe^t, happy in escaping from the sight 



BEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 65 

aiicl association of beings abhorrent to human na- 
ture ; and hastened towards Augusta, in Georgia. 
I cannot pass over a circumstance that happened 
at this latter place, which excited some merriment, 
as a contrast to the anecdote 1 have just related. 

A Connecticut merchant is the denomination ap- 
plied individually to a set of people who, in the au- 
tumnal months, leave Connecticut river, and, in 
small sloops, schooners, or shallops, run down the 
continent, laden with onions, apples, cyder, pota- 
toes, and sometimes New-England rum and pork, 
having little more nautical skill than that of ascer- 
taining the direction of the coast, keeping within 
soundings, and carefully avoiding the stream, v.hicli 
constantly runs from the Gulph of Mexico to the 
Banks of Newfoundland. One of these merchants 
had reached Savannah, the capital of Georgia, and 
finding the market glutted with what he called his 
corn customers, honest Nathan * was advised to try 
his market at Augusta, in Georgia, then the seat of 
government, under the administration of Govern- 
or Tellfair. The merchant's name was Nathan 
Putnam, a near relation of the celebrated General 
Putnam, who, with Doctor Warren, of Boston, so 
vigourously defended Bunker's Hill, in i775, a- 
gainst the British troops, in the Massachuset go- 
vernment. Merchant Putnam had applied to a 
Mr Longstreet, a native of Prince Town, New- 
Jersey, to purchase his cargo of combustibles, — a 
bargain was struck ; but the merchant not having 

* I hope tlie reader will not suspect that I mean hy this 
anecdote any refleclions on the character of the quakers — 
far from it. In tills country, in particular, they are an 
ornament to dieir profession ; and, perhaps, the ir.o^i 
corf-isient people, as a bodv, that A ncrica can boast of. 
F 2 



•6 NAllRATIVE OF THE 

delivered the combustibles within the time limited 
by the contract, a dispute arose ; when Langstreet, 
who hated the New-Eng-hind people, whom he 
termed Yankies, was determined to. seize the goods, 
as forfeited by the contract, and apply them to his 
own use ; he therefore armed a party to effect 
his purpose, who, having drunk very freely of the 
hard, strong cider, which is called wring-jaw-cider, 
from its being boiled xlown and distilled, they pro- 
ceeded to seize merchant Putnam ; and the more 
effectually to gain their point, some of them declar- 
ed he was the identical Benedict Arnold, who had 
confederated to give up West Point to the British, 
and had come there in disguise. It being in the 
twihght, and the merchant resembling in size and 
appearance the general alluded to, the report was 
ins'tantly believed, and the poor merchant being 
beized, in vain denied the charge, and appealed to 
many persons as to the identity of his person. 1 hey 
were actually proceeding to tar and roll him in a 
bed of feathers, and from thence to throw him into 
the Savannah river, when he was fortunately known 
by his voice to a Colonel Dorsey, and with much 
diiTiculty recovered by the colonel, who had been 
at his father's house during the war, when in the 
continental service ; while, being a quaker, he 
merely affirmed he was not the real Benedict Ar- 
nold, having served under that general in his march 
from the camp at Cambridge to the walls of Que- 
bec. The interferance of Colonel Dorsey, howe- 
ver, v/ouid have been of no avail, had he not been 
highly asd deservedly respected, as a gentleman of 
liberality, courage and infiuence. Hearing the tu- 
multuous uproar, I was proceeding to enquire into 
Uie cause, wiien I was met by Colonel Dorsey, with 



DEATH OF MAJ.OR ANDRE. 6? 

whom I became acquainted in England soon after 
the American war, and who, knowing my preca- 
rious situation, was coming forward, from political 
reasons, to warn me of my danger ; on our meet- 
ing, he strongly urged my departure, lest any sus- 
picion should arise, which might prove injurious 
to my personal safety. 

Being acquainted with the governor's lady, whom 
I knew in i774, and having brought letters of re- 
commendation 10 the governor, from his friends in 
Charleston, with whom I had frequently dined in 
company with the people of the first distinction in 
the counti-y ; <he legislature then sitting, and it be- 
ing also the sitting, ot the surpreme court of judi- 
cature for the state, accompanied with the usual 
commission of oyer and terminer, I was not inti- 
midated by the gentlemen of the mobility ; in fact 
I wished to hear the debates, and the new mode of 
administering justice. It was, however, a friendly 
caution on the part of Colonel Dorsey, and which 
I found, on adherence to it, of great utility to me, 
in travelling through the continent in general ; and 
in this instance particularly, for the fracas just men- 
tioned had revived the malevolence of party ; and 
the whole history of General Arnold's defection 
from the American cause became again the sub- 
ject of detail. I have sat in public companies, have 
been on the road travelling, incognito^ and heard 
myself almost as severely execrated as an accom- 
plice with General Arnold, and as much tln-eatened 
as he himself could possibly be, if he were to fiUl 
into their hands. Such incidents forcibly brought 
to my remembrance an expression of General 
Washington to my friend Colonel Hay, when I was 
under my trial for life, viz, « thut wc mav as we I? 



63 NAIIRATI\1E OP THE 

hang him as not, for he can never be happy if 
acquitted.'* It is somewhat remarkable, that he 
never published the sentence of the court-mar- 
tial which, for six weeks, was employed in my 
trial, thereby intending to fix a stigma that, he 
conceived, would embitter my future life. I am 
confident that he anxiously meditated ray de- 
struction ; but, being favoured by the law, and 
the hand of Divine Providence, which sustained 
me under my severe afflictions, I was enabled 
to offer a defence, that baffled every attempt to 
cause me to suffer the tragical fate of the lament- 
ed Andre : — Yet Washington would have at- 
tempted my destruction, had he not been dis- 
suaded by General Greene, on account of the in- 
sufficiency of the evidence, and the influence of 
his lady, (of whom I shall have occasion to speak 
hereafter,) as well as from a special regard 
which General Greene bore towards a favourite 
nephew, Lieutenant-Colonel William Living- 
ston, of Colonel Webb's regiment of Continen- 
tals, who fought under his command at Rhode 
Island, in the year 1779 ; he therefore affection- 
ately interested himself in my behalf. The ve- 
ry handsome manner in which General Greene 
spoke of this young and gallant officer, as well 
as of Colonel Henry B. Livingston, who were 
both in this action, did him great honour; his 
eulogium being stricitly true, and much less than 
the objects of it, from all circumstances, de- 
served. 

From the cool and intrepid conduct of Gene- 
ral Greene at Rhode-Island, at the period above- 
mentipned, and the combinations and intrigucc 
of Generals Gates, Mifiin, and others, agains^ 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 69 

General Washington, he became more closely 
ittached to General Greene than any officer un- 
klcr his command, and was supposed instrumen- 
tal in the disgraceful act of superseding Gene- 
al Gates, by the appointment of General Greene 
o the command of the American southern ar- 
ny ; and from that period they seemed to be ac- 
uatcd by one common interest, which clearly 
iccounts for that unison of design, which was 
vident in the conduct of the commander in 
hicf and the president of the board instituted 
)y the former, for the fate of the unfortunate 
tdjutant-p^eneral. 
When General Robertson left General Greene 
t Dobbs's ferry, and returned to the gentlemen 
v'ho accompanied him in the flag of truce, he 
vas not without hopes that some remaining prin- 
iple of humanity, or spark of tenderness which 
ieneral Greene had discovered, when the pur- 
ort of the interview was related to the chief- 
lin, might excite a spirit of clemency towards 
lany that might otherwise fall victims to rigor- 
us severity,* in the further prosecution of the 
ar. But he was mistaken ; for as he came re- 
vived to withstand all entreaties of humanity, 
D he was determined not to suggest to his prin- 
ipal any matter that might excite remorse in 
is mind, but, on the contrary, like another lago, 
stered the wound that he jiad opened. A fu- 
ous letter from General Arnold, replete with 
ireats in case Major Andre should suffer un- 
tr the sentence of the board of general officers, 

* A large n^smber of the citizens of South Carolina had 
rtnally forfeited their lives at tliis time, and yet v.erc 
ared by Sir Henry Clinton. 



70 NARRATIVE OF THE 

charging General Washinp^ton with being an- 
swerable for all the bloodshed consequent on 
that event, increased the flame. This letter 
added fuel to the rancourous enmity he enter- 
tained against his ancient rival, and tended ra- 
ther to precipitate the deplored event, or, at 
least, to make it the more inevitable ; while 
General Robertson was censured for, what was 
termed, the absurdity of presenting it. 

From the 25th of September, the day of the 
appointment of the board of officers by Genera] 
Washington, to the 5th of October, was passed 
in the transmission of flags on this unhappy sub' 
ject, during which time Major Andre calmlj 
composed his mind with philosophic, but rathei 
with Christian fortitude, preparing for what- 
ever might be the event of the negociution 
which he understood was making in his behalf: 
but he was at length informed that the die wa? 
cast, and his destiny irretrievable, conformablj 
to the usage of war annexed to his sentence 
He then wrote to his most worthy friend anc 
patron. Sir Henry Clinton, in language which 
no pen could surpass ; and also a letter to Gen- 
eral Washington, replete with all the dignified 
sentiment of a man of honour, and with all the 
pathos of a man of the finest feelings, earnestly 
requesting that he might die as a soldier, anc 
not as a malefactor: to which however, no re- 
reply was made. The following is the letteJ 
last alluded to : 

« Tappan^ Oct, 1, 1780. 
"Sir, 

" Buoyed above the terror of death, by thi, 
consciousness of a life devoted to honourabi 



DEATH OF MAJOB ANDRE. 71 

pursuits, and stained with no action that can 
jfvive me remorse, I trust that the request I 
make to your excellency at this serious period, 
and which is to soften my last moments, will 
not be rejected. 

" Sympathy towards a soldier will surely in- 
duce your excellency, aiul a military tribunal, 
to adapt the mode of my death to the feelings 
of a man of honour. 

*' Let me hope, Sir, that if aught in my cha- 
racter impresses you with esteem towards me, if 
aught in my misfortunes marks me as the vic- 
tim of policy, and not of resentment, I shall ex- 
perience the operation of these feelings in your 
breast, by being informed that I am not to die on 
a gibbet. 

" I have the honour to be, 

your excellency's most obedient, 
and most humble servant, 
JOHN ANDRE, 
Adjutant -General to the 
British Army J** 

During all this period, from the time of our 
being conducted from West Point, the 26th of 
I September, to the 30th, I was closely guarded in 
the church of Tappan, or Orange Town, and there 
were not wanting those who gave me intimations 
of the plans that were fromed against the life 
of Major Andre, as well as the engines that were 
at work against myself ; and I shall ever retain, 
in grateful remembrance, the tender and synv 
pathising consolations, which I received from a 
I very young gentleman of the name of Edwards, 
fr^m Massachuset's Bay government, who often 



7'Z XARRATIVE OF THE 

commanded the guard, under whose care 1 was 
confined. The most virtuous and worthy of the 
aged inhabitants of the county of Orange did 
not fail to visit me on this occasion ; and par- 
ticularly the good Judge Cove, of Kakiat, Judge 
Heron, and Abraham Thew, Esq. a man v/ho 
had served his country with the most unexam- 
pled zeal and fidelity, during the Canadian war, 
which' terminated in the peace of 1763, and 
who, as a reward for his prowess and gallantry, 
was so highly complimented by the friend of my 
family, the late Lord Jeffery Amherst, whose 
memory will live in the annals of military virtue 
and honor. 

My turn was now to commence, and, on the 
day appointed for my trial, the Judge advocate, 
by order of General Washington, who was pro- 
secutor, exhibited ten separate charges against 
me, so artfully drawn up, that the proof of one 
would necessarily involve, as by inference, same 
testimony to support the other. Aware of the 
snare which was laid for me, I requested that 
the charges might be consolidated into one ge- 
neral accusation. Accordingly, on the ensuing 
day, when the court was convened, thia^ request 
was granted ; and I was ordered to answer to 
the following charge, with the usual ceremo- 
nial : — 

" You stand charged with aiding and assisting 
Benedict Arnold, late a major-general in our 
service, in a combination with the enemy, for 
the purpose of taking, seizing, and killing such ^ 
of the loyal citizens and soldiers of these United 
States, as were in garrison at West Point, and 
i^s dependencies." 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 7o 

In answer to this charge, I objected to the le- 
gality, or propriety, of being tried by a military 
ribunal ; for, as a citizen, 1 conceived myself only 
imenable to the civil authority of the state to which 
[ belonged, which had established the right of trial 
Dy jury in the constitution recently adopted, deter- 
mining the liberties of the subjects within the state, 
and had ordained " That the right of trial by j\iry, 
in all cases wherein it had been formerly used in 
the colony of New-York, should be, and remain, 
inviolate for ever.*' I was answered by the court, 
that I was tried by a resolve of Congress, passed in 
Ithe year 1777, authorizing the commander in chief 
of the army, to hear and try by court-martial, any 
|of the citizens of the United States, who should 
harbour or secret any of the subjects or soldiers of 
the King of Great- Britain, knowing them to be 
such, or should be instrumental in conveying intel- 
ligence to the enemy, and, if found guilty, should 
be condemned and executed as a traitor, assassin, 
and spy. To this I objected, that the resolve of 
Congress just alluded to, was possibly passed ante- 
rior to the adoption of the several constitutions of 
the United States, when there were no legal estab- 
lishments, and was introduced to supply the want 
of civil jurisdictions in that early stage of the war ; 
and that I could not conceive how a mere resolve 
of Congress could abrogate a fundamental article in 
any of the civil constitutions of the United States ; 
for, if so, it made the militaiy paramount to 
the civil authority, and would establish, if the 
court were to proceed on my trial, a precedent 
dangerous to the liberties of the subject : that it 
wo«}d excite eventually the indignation of my fel- 
G 



74 NARllATIVE OF THE 

low-citizens, in destroying one of the established 
principles of liberty belonging to the subject, and 
the violation of the right of trial by jury, one of 
the principle reasons assigned by Congress for their 
separation from Great-Britain, in the declaration 
of independence, as well as allowing the military 
an extent of power incompatible with a free go- 
vernment. 

The court, however, after having withdrawn 
some time tor consultation, over-ruled my objec- 
tions, and proceeded to examine the evidence in 
support of the prosecutor's charge. 

The first that were produced, were the Marquis 
de la Fayette. General Knox, and Colonels Harri- 
son and Hamilton; the purport of whose testimo- 
ny was, my declaration to General Hamilton, when 
brought before him at Robinson's house from Fish- 
kiil. In giving thidr evidence separately, they each 
deviated from the other, although they were all 
present at the time of examination before the 
court-martial. 

General Knox and Colonel Hamilton came, in 
testimony, more pointed to ihe exact truth of what 
I had declared, especially the latter, whose evidenee 
was perfectly correct, by which was anticipated 
what must have been otherwise extracted in cross- 
examination ; yet Hamilton artfully threw in a 
chain of reasoning, tending to prove my being in 
fui! knowledge of General Arnold's intentions. 
Flan icon's testimony was imperfect on the most 
muteii; 1 points, as he detcdled those parts that mi- 
lilater! iig>\inst mc in support of the charge, and ex- 
ciu'icv'l thc;se that favoured my life ; for, in all these 
cases, a n-,'!n's declaration should be taken connec- 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. lb 

lively, and not be detached ; otherwise, by select- 
ing some parts, and rejecting others, in support of 
a charge, it must be evident that the n\ost inno- 
cent man may be made to contradict, and even to 
condemn himself. 

The Marquis de la Fayette was most widely 
different in his testimony from the rest of these 
gentleman ; he delivered his evidence with acri- 
monious severity, and malignant bitterness : he 
asserted as part of my declaration to General Wash- 
ington matters that I could not have mentioned ; 
and had my life, or that of a hundred others, de- 
pended on his credibility before an ignorant court- 
martial, all would have been forfeited. 

I had paid particular attention to the testimony 
of General Knox and Colonel Hamilton, in my 
notes taken on their evidence ; and in my cross- 
examination of the Marquis, I applied their an- 
swers and remarks to his recollection, which did 
not a little embarrass him. I could plainly per- 
ceive the court-martial were sensible that he was 
mistaken ; and I most sincerely hope he erred 
from ignorance of the true import of the English 
language. 

The avowed enmity which the marquis enter- 
tained against General Arnold, induced him to take 
vengeance on all who were supposed to be in the 
least degree connected with him, and there were so 
many presumptive circumstances which favoured 
my being of that complexion, that they in some 
measure account for his vindictive ness. Previous 
to this event, we had been on good terms ; but he 
left the court-martial much chagrined, and 1 un- 
derstood from one of Cxeneral \\^ ashing ton *s do- 



7$ NARRATIVE OF TttE 

mestics, who daily brought me provisions, and who 
was a confidential servant of the general's, that the 
marquis, on all occasions, when my name was men- 
tioned, expressed himself with great asperity. 

The next evidences that were produced, were 
Samuel and Joseph Colquhoun, the boatmen, who 
rowed me on board the Vulture ; the three mili- 
tia-men, who captured Major Andre ; and the fer- 
ry-men, who conveyed us from Stony to Verplank's 
Point. 

The two boatmen corroborated the substance of 
what I had declared to General Washington, on 
my first arrest, with a number of other circum- 
stances, which were of little or no consequence, 
excepting their acknowledging their total inability 
of returning Major Andre to the Vulture, after 
landing him at the Long Clove, for his conference 
with General Arnold, through the excessive fatigue 
they had undergone already, and from the change 
of the tide. I will only here remark, that I was 
aware of this impracticability, when I left the Vul- 
ture, and had solicited the addition of two hands 
from the captain, which were refused, but from 
what motives I cannot determine, unless for the 
reasons I have already suggested, that there appear- 
ed no concert of design between the military and 
naval departments ; and yet it has since apppeared 
that the Vulture was stationed in the bay of Haver- 
straw purposely to promote the measures that were 
in agitation. 

These two men delivered their evidence with a 
plainness, perspicuity, and firmness, that seemed 
to have much weight with the court-martial, who 
examined them with critical scrutiny. After the 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 77 

judge-advocate had niiished the examination, they 
were the most material evidences that could he 
adduced. I will just mention the disgraceful 
means that were used to impeach the integrity of 
the eldest Samuel Colquhoun, from which circum- 
stance it will appear in what a precarious situation 
my life was placed. 

There is now a person in this kingdom, who was 
informed by Samuel Colquhoun, that while I was 
on my trial, he was taken into a field by some of 
General Washington's officers, who read to him a 
paper purporting to be a declaration of the means 
wliich I had adopted, and which ii he would attest 
against me on the trial, he should have a purse of 
gold, which was then offered lo him, and a pro- 
mise of support for life ; — ^Colquhoun answered, 
that although he v/as a poor man, he could not 
swear falsely for money, which he should do if he 
attested the paper ; and, if made rich by such 
means, he added, that he should be miserable for 
life. 

The next evidence adduced was Colonel Hay, 
who accompanied me from his house at hishkiil to 
"Robinson's house, when under the guard of Colo- 
nel Govion, the amount of which was, my declara- 
tion to him of the nature of my agency with Ge- 
neral Arnold. His testimony differed very lirtle in 
substance from the declaration made to General 
Washhigton, as related by the four first witnesses, 
General Knox, See. 

The next evidences were the ferry-men, who 
proved that I had conducted Major Andre across 
the postof Stony and \'e -plunk's Point- and mention- 
ed some desultory conversation that had pissed. 
G 2 



r« NARRATIVE OF THE 

but which, at this period, can be of no conse- 
quence; they,' however, deposed, that there ap- 
peared to them an intimacy between Major Andre 
and myself, that was of a very long standing. 

These evidences were followed by the three 
militia-men, who had stopped and captured Major 
Andre, and with them were produced the papers 
which, they said, were found in Major Andre's 
boot : the names of these men were Paulding, Van 
Vert, and Williams. 

Upon their being individually desired to depose 
what they knew, or could declare concerning me, 
they each said they had never seen me before ; 
but upon its being suggested that my name was 
mentioned in some of the papers found upon Major 
Andre, the papers were read, and were to the fol- 
lowing purpose : — 

Artillery Orders^ Se/it. 5, 1780. 
Estimate of the Force at West Point, and its 

Dependencies, Sept. 1780. 
Estimate of Men to defend the Works at West 

Point, &c. 
Return of Ordnance at West Point, Sept. 1780. 
Remarks on the Works at West Point. 

COPY 

Of a state of matters^ laid before a Council of 
War, by his Excellency General Waslwigton^ 
held the &th of Sefit. 1780. 

A letter, signed John Anderson, dated the 7th 
of September, 1780, to Colonel Sheldon, was also 
laid before the court-martial, which, the judge- 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 79 

advocate said, had been shewn to Major Andre, 
who acknowledged to have written it, and which 
was as follows :— 

*i Mw York, Sept. 1, 1780. 
« Sir, 

" I am told my name is made known to you, and 
that I may hope your indulgence in permitting me 
to meet a friend near our posts. I will endeavour 
to obtain permission to go out with a flag, which is 
to be sent to Dobbs's Ferry, on Monday next, the 

A 1th, when I shall be happy to meet IVIr. G . 

Should I not be allowed to go, the officer, who is 
to command the escort, between whom and my- 
self no distinction need be made, can speak on the 
affair ; let me intreat you, Sir, to favour a mat- 
ter so interesting to the parties concerned, and 
which is of sof private a nature, that the public on 
neither side can be injured by it. 

" I shall be happy, on my part, in doing any act 
of kindness to you in a family or property concern 
of a similar nature. 

" I trust I shall not be detained ; but should any 
old grudge be a cause for it, I should rather risk 
that, than neglect the business in question, or as- 
sume a mysterous character to carry on an inno- 
cent affair ; and, as friends have advised, get your 
lines by stealth. 

" I am. Sir, with all regard, 

Your most humble servant. 
Col. Sheldon. JOHN ANDERSON." 

In addition to the papers found on Major Andre, 
there was produced the pass, given to him by 



8d NARRVnVE OF THE 

General Arnold, to go to the White Plains, (which 
was . a distance about half way between Pine's 
Bridge and New-York,) and to proceed, if he 
thought fit as far as Ne>v-York. 

There was also another paper, containing a list 
of a number of persons living in the vicinity of the 
posts of Stony and Vcrplank's Points ; in this list 
my name was inserted, which was read to me, and 
I was called upon to declare for what purpose it 
was placed among the preceding inclosures ? As 
I knew many of the persons mentioned, and that 
they were of very opposite political principles, I 
could give no decisive answer, and as it did not ap- 
ply to me, I said I conceived none was necessary 
on my part, for no man was bound to say that legal- 
ly which might condemn himself. I therefore left 
the court-martial to place what construction they 
pleased on that paper, and indeed, upon the whole 
of them, asserting at the time, that not being a 
military man, I knew nothing about their nature. 

When Major Andre was under his trial before 
the board of general officers, these papers- were 
produced against him, as appears from an extract 
of their proceedings, in a letter transmitted by 
General Washington to Congress, ifed aftei'wards. 
published by them undier the signature of Chariest- 
Thompson their secretary, agreeably to thfeir ordei^' . 

It appears from these extracts, that when the 
above letter was read to Major Andre, he nobly 
avowed his being the author, as all stratagems in 
war are justifiable ; but he delivered to the board 
these impressive sentiments, — " That this letter 
could be of no force in the case in question, as it 
was written in New- York, when he was under the 



DE ATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. S 1 

orders of General Clinton, but that it tended to 
prove, that it was not his intention to come within 
our lines.'* 

It may not be amiss here to exhibit the letter 
which Major Andre addressed to Generui Wash- 
ington, from Salem, dated the 24th of September, 
1780, after he was sent across the country in West 
Chester, and placed in Colonel Sheldon's care, 
from the custody of Colonel Jamison. This letter 
communicates his sentiments in a clear point of 
view, and is too interesting to be passed over in 
silence, it bein.s: totally repugnant to what the board 
of general offrcers mention as Major Andre's 
confession to them, on which they justify their 
sentence : 

"Sir, ""' 

" What I h^^vc as yet said concerning myself, 
was m the justifiable attempt to be extricated ; I 
am too little accustomed to duplicity to have suc- 
ceeded. 

"I beg your excellency to be persuaded, that no 
alteration in the temper of my mind, or appre- 
hension for my safety, induces me to the step of 
iaxidressing you ; but that it is to secure myself 
from an imputation of having assumed a mean 
character for treacherous purposes or self-interest ; 
a conduct incompatable with the principles that 
actuated me, as well as with my condition in life. 

** It is to vindicate my fame I speak, and not to 
solicit security. 

" The person in your possession is Major Andre, 
Adjutant-general of the British army. 

" The influence of one commander, in the army 



82 NARRATIVE OP THE 

of his adversary, is an advantage taken in war. A 
correspondence for this purpose 1 held as confiden- 
tial (in the present instance,) with his excellency 
Sir Henry Clinton. 

" To favour it, I agreed to meet, upon ground 
not within the posts of either army, a person wiio 
w^as to give me intelligence ; I came in the Vul- 
ture sloop of war for this effect, and was fetched 
by the boat from the ship to the beach ; being there 
I was told that the approach of day would prevent 
my return, and that 1 must be concealed until the 
next night. I was in my regimentals, and had fair- 
ly risked my person. 

" Against my stipulation, my intention, and 
without my knowledge before-hand, I was conduct- 
ed within one of your posts. Your excellency 
may conceive my sentiments on this occasion, and 
will imagine how much more I must have been 
aifected by a refusal to re -conduct me back the 
next night as I had been brought ; thus become a 
prisoner, I had to concert my escape ; I quitted my 
uniform, and was passed another way in the night, 
without the American posts, to neutral ground ; 
and being informed I was out of the reach of all 
armed parties, and left to proceed for New- 
York, I was taken at Tarry Town by some volun- 
teers. 

" Thus, as I have had to relate, I was betrayed 
(being adjutant-general of the British army) into 
the vile condition of an enemy within your posts. 

" Having avowed myself a British officer, I 
know nothing to reveal but what relates to myself, 
which is true on the honour of an officer and a gen- 
tleman. 



«E \TH OF M \ JOR ANDRE, 83 

" The request I have to make to your excellency, 
and I am conscious I address myself well, is, that 
in any rigour policy may dictate, a decency of con- 
duct towards me may mark that, though unfortu- 
nate, I am branded with nothing dishonorable, as 
no motive could be mine, but the service of my 
king, and as 1 was involuntarily an im poster. 

'^ Another request is, that I may be permitted 
to write an open letter to Sir Henry Clinton, and 
another to a friend for clothes and linen. 

" I take the liberty to mention the condition of 
some gentlemen at Charleston, who, being either 
on parole, or under protection, were engaged hi a 
conspiracy against us ; though their situation is not 
similar, they are objects who iliay be sent in ex- 
change for me, or are persons, whom the treatment 
I receive, may in some degree affect. 

" It is no less, Sir, a confidence in the generos- 
ity of your mind, than on account of your superior 
station, that I have chosen to importune you with 
this letter — I have the honour to be, with the 
greatest respect. Sir, 

" Your excellency's most obedient, 
? and most humble servant, 

JOHN ANDRE, 

Adjt, Gen:' 

" His Excelk'ucij 
Gep, Wasliington^ tS'c." 

I must here request the candid reader's peculiar 
attention to the manly, generous, and undisguised 
sentiments of this unfortunate British officer. 

Here is an explicit avowal of his object, and the 
truly juslifiuble means which he pursued to obtain 



84 NARRATIVE OF THE 

it, — justifiable in every sense, provided stratagems 
in war, by the law of belligerent nations, be admis- 
sible, and daily public accounts of military exploits 
prove the position. 

I carried the flag from General Arnold to the 
Vulture, for any person to venture himself on 
shore. It was addressed *' To Colonel Beverly 
Robinson, John Anderson, or whomsoever they 
might depute." This fact was attested by the two 
boatmen who rowed me on board the Vulture, and 
was the purport of the paper which I shewed to the 
court-njariial on my trial, in my own vindication, 
as being under the direction of General Arnold, 
On this point, when produced, they seemed to re- 
lax in their virulence against me ; for, by the pow- 
ers vested in general officers, commanding sepa- 
rate districts of sixty miles around their distinct 
commands, the citizen, as well as the soldier, waSf 
as I mentioned before, amenable to all the penalties 
of martial law, by the order of Congress, who, in 
the exigency of affairs, even dispensed with defined 
constitutional principles, in the unalienable rights 
of citizenship. And yet this board of general of- 
ficers, because there was at that time no uid to as- 
sist Major Andre, availing themselves of trespass 
on this common benefit, destroyed his life with im- 
punity. 

It is requisite to observe, that General Wash- 
ington, speaking of the letter which I have just re- 
cited, in one that he wrote to Congress, dated Sep- 
tember 25, 1780, upon the first discovery of Ar- 
nold's defection, expressed himself to this effect : 
after mentioning that he had returned from Hert- 
ford, to join his command at Robinson*s house, he 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 85 

says, — ^' I arrived heins yesterday, about twelve 
e'clock. Some hours previous to my arrival, Ma- 
jor-General Arnold Went from his quarters, which 
were at this place, an^ hjs it was supposed, over 
the river, to the garrison at West Point, whiihcr 
I proceeded myself, in order to visit the posts. I 
found General Arnold had not been there durint^ 
tlie day ; and, on my return to his quarters, lie 
was stUl absent. In the mean time, a packet had 
arrived from Lieutenant Colonel Jamison, announc- 
ing the capiure of John Anderson, who was endea- 
vouring to go to New-York, with several interest- 
ing and important papers, all in the handwriting of 
General Arnold. r his was accomp-^nied by a let- 
ter from the prisoner, avowing himself to be Major 
John Andre, adjutant-general of the British army, re- 
luting the manner of his ca/itiLve^ and endeavouring to 
shew he did not come under the descri/ition of a spy. 
From these several circumstances, and information 
that the general seemed to be thrown into some 
degree of agitation, on receiving a letter a little be- 
fore he went from his quarters, 1 was led to con- 
elude immediately that he had heard of Major An- 
dre's captivity, and that he would, if possible, es- 
cape to the enemy, and accordingly took such mea- 
sures as appeared most probable to apprehend him, 
but he had embarked in a barge, and proct^eded 
down the river under a flag, to the Vulture sloop 
of war, which lay some miles distant below Siony 
and Verplank's Point. He wrote me a letter af^cr 
he got on board. Major Andre has not arrived yet, 
but i hope he is secure, and that he will be here 
to-morrow. I have been, and am taking precau- 
tions, which I hope will prove effectual, to prevent 
H 



86 NARRATIVE OF THE 

the important consequences, which this conduct 
on the part of General Arnold was intended to pro- 
duce," kc. 

It is apparent, by his letter to General Wash- 
ington, that major Andre did not consider himself 
in the character of a spy, for so General Washing- 
ton understood the import of his sentiments ; and 
when the hands that rowed me to the Vulture were 
pressed to return him, Major Andre himself, up- 
on their mentioning that the ship would be fired 
upon at day-break, said in reply, " you can reach 
the shi/i, and be far e7iough, before that can hafifien^ 
and the same fag that carried you to the shifiy will 
fnake you safe on your return to General Arnold's 
command." 

That Major Andre was under the protection of 
a flag, appears from General Arnold's letter to Sir 
Henry Clinton, dated New-York, Sept. 26, 1 780, of 
which the following is a copy :— 

« Sir, 

" In answer to your excellency's message, re- 
specting your adjutant-general Major Andre, and 
delivering my ideas of the reason why he is detain- 
ed, being under my passports, 1 have the honor to 
inform you I apprehend a few hours must return 
Major Andre to your excellency's orders, as that 
officer is assuredly under the protection of a flag 
of truce, sent by me to him, for the purpose of a 
conversation I requested to hold with him relating 
to myself, and which I wished to comm\inicate to 
th-it officer or to your excellency. 

" I commanded ut the lime at West Point, and 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 87 

bad an undoubted ri^bt to send my flag of truce for 
Major Andre, who came to me under that protec- 
tion ; and havmg^ held my conversation with him, 
I delivered to him confidential papers in my own 
hand-writing^, to deliver to your excellency. Think- 
ing it much properer he should return by land, I 
directed him to make use of the feigned name of 
John Anderson, under which he had, by my direc- 
tion come on shore, and gave him my passports for 
his safe return to your excellency ; all which I had a 
right then to do, being in the actual service of 
Amrrica, under the orders of General Washing- 
ton, and commanding general at West Point, and 
its dependencies. 

" I have the honor to be, 

your excellency's most obedient, 
and very humble servant, 

B. ARNOLD." 
<< His Excellency 
Sir Henry Clinton." 

In unison with the same sentiment, Colonel 
Beverly Robinson thus expressed himself in his 
letter to General Washino;ton, dated " Vulture off 
Sinsink, Sept. 25, 1780,'* and he saw the flag I 
brought on board : — 

" Sir, 

" I am this moment informed, that Major Andre, 
adjutant-general of the British army in America, 
is detained as a prisoner by the army under your 
command. 

" It is therefore incumbent on me to inform you 
«f the manner of his falling into your hands -.--He 



88 NARRATIVE OF THE 

went up with a flag at the request of General Ar- 
nold, on public business with him, and had his 
permit to return by land to New- York. Upon 
these circumstiinces, Major Andre cannot be de- 
tained by you, without the greatest violation of flags, 
and contrary to the customs and usage of all na- 
tions ; and as I imagine you will see this in the 
same manner as I do, I must desire you will 
oiTbr him to be set at liberty. Every step Major 
Andre took, was by the advice and direction of Gen. 
Arnold, even that of taking a feigned name, and, 
of course, not liable to answer for it. 
" I am. Sir, 

not forgetting our former acquaintance, 
your very humble servant, 
BEVERLEY ROBINSON, 
Colonel Royal Americans'" 
*< His Excellency 
General Washington.*^ 

In consequence of these facts, and agreeably to 
the opinion of the most experienced ofiicers in the 
garrison of New-York, who deemed it consistent 
with the law^s of nations, as established by the most 
eminent writers on the subject, Sir Henry Clinton 
addressed the following letter to General Wash- 
ington, dated New- York, September 26, 1780 : — 

« Sir, 
" Being informed that the King's adjutant-gen- 
eral in America has been stopped under Major- 
General Arnold's passports, and is detained a pri- 
soner in vour excellency's army, I have the hon- 
or to inform you, Sir, I permitted Major Andre 



WEATH OF MAJOR A^^)RE. 89 

to go to Major -General Arnold, at the particular 
request of that general officer. You will perceive 
Sir, by the inclosed paper,* that a flag of truce 
was sent to receive Major Andre, and passports 
granted for his return. 1 therefore cannot have a 
doubt but your excellency will immediately direct, 
that this officer has permission to return to my or- 
ders at New-York. 

" I have the honour to be, 

your excellency's most obedient 

and most humble servant, 
H. CLINTON.** 
" His Excellency 
General Washington** 

This letter was not answered by General Wash- 
ington before the 30th of September, 178«, during 
which time, from the date of Sir Henry Clinton's 
letter, and General Washington's answeu, the board 
-of general officers were sitting in judgment upon 
Major Andre's case, as referred to them by Wash- 
ington ; and a number of letters was sent by Sir 
Henry Clinton and General Robertson ; one of 
which, from the latter, as it is explanatory of Gen- 
eral Greene's conduct, and shews the determined 
system he meant to pursue after this silence, I 
think necessary to insert it. It is dated from the 
Greyhound schooner, flag of truce, Dobbs's Ferry, 
Oct. 2, 1780. It also shews that the friends of 
Major Andre were incessant in their endeavours 
to rescue him from his impending fate. The let- 
ter is addressed to General Washington ; 

* X. B. This was General Arnold's letter above recited. 
H 2 



90 NARRATIVE OF THE 

« Sir, 

" A note I have frorn General Greene leaves me 
in doubt if his memory had served him to relate 
with exactness the substance of the conversurion, 
that had passed between him and myself, on the 
subject of Major Andre. On an affair of so much 
consequence to my friend, to the two armies, and 
humanity, I would leave no possibility of a misun- 
derstanding, and therefore take the liberty to put 
in writing the substance of what I said to General 
Greene. I offered to prove by the evidence of 
Colonel Robinson, and the officers of the Vulture, 
that Major Andre went on shore at General Ar- 
nold's desire, in a boat sent for him in a flag of 
truce ; that he not only came on shore with the 
knowledge, and under the protection of the gene- 
ral who commanded in the district, but that he took 
no step while on shore, but by the direction of Ge- 
neral Arnold, as will appear from the inclosed letter 
from him to your excellency. Under these cir- 
cumstances I could not, and hoped you would notj 
consider Major Andre as a spy, for any improper 
phrase in his letter to you. 

" The facts he relates correspond with the evi- 
dence I off'er ; but he admits a conclusion that does 
not follow. The change of clothes was ordered 
by General Arnold, under whose direction he ne- 
cessarily was, whiie within his command. 

" As General Greene and 1 did not agree in 
opinion, I wished that disinterested gentlemen of 
knowledge, of the laws of war and nations, might 
be asked their opinion on the subject, and mention- 
ed Monsieur Rnj'phausen and General Rochum- 
beau. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 9^ 

'• I related that a captain had been delivered to 
Sir Henry Clinton as a spy, and he undoubtedly was 
such, but that it being signiticd to him thai you 
was desirous the mun should be exchanged, he or- 
dered him to be exchanged. 

" I wished that an intercourse of such civilities, 
as the rules of war admit of, might takeoff nicaiy 
of its horrors. 1 admitted that Major Andre had a 
great share of Sir Henry Clinton's esteem, and 
that he would be infinitely obliged by his libera- 
tion, and that, if he was permitted to return with 
me I would engage to have any person you would 
be pleased to nam^e set at liberty. 

'^ I added, that Sir Henry Clinton had never 
put to death any person for a breach of the rules 
of wai", though he had, and now has, many in his 
power. Under the present ciixumstances, much 
good may arise from humanity ; much JM frort 
the want of it, if that could give any weight. I 
l)eg leave to add, that your favourable treatment 
of iMajor Andre would be a favour I should ever 
be intcBfe to return to any you hold dear. 

" My memory docs not retain with the exact- 
ness 1 could wish, the words of the letter which 
General Greene shewed me, from Major Andre 
to your excellency ; for Sir H nry Clinton's sat- 
isfaction, 1 beg you will order a copy of it to be 
sent to me at New-York. 

" I have the honour to be, 

your excellency's most obedient 
and most humble servant, 

J. ROBLKTSON." 

" His Excellmcy 
General Jias/dni^tcn." 



92 NARRATIVE OF THE 

Notwithstanding this pathetic and affecting let- 
ter, to which no answer was given, because, 
through the still glowing and persecuting enmity 
of General Greene, it was delivered too late, 
the sentence of the board of general officers 
remained unreversed. 

Major Andre, understanding that his fate was 
finally determined on, anM being informed of the 
mode of his death, addressed the letter to Gen- 
eral Washington which I have already in- 
serted.* 

This letter, however, was not ansv/ered ; but 
General Washington consulted the board of offi- 
cers on the subject. Overcome with remorse 
and sorrow, mingled with esteem, they were all 
for granting this last request, until (General 
Greene insisted that his crime was that of a 
common spy, and that the service and good of 
the American cause required the most exempla- 
ry punishment. This he urged with such vehe- 
mence as induced a compliance in the rest ; for, 
said he, if he is shot, mankind will think, there 
are circumstances in his case, which intitled him 
to notice and indulgence. 

At length the awful period arrived ; and on 
the morning of the 2d of October, this unhap- 
py victim of the errors of others, was led out 
to the place of execution. As he passed along 
the American army were astonished at the dig- 
nity of his deportment, and the manly firmness, 
and complacency of countenance, which spoke 
the serene composure of his mhid ; a glow of 

* Vide pag-e 70. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANbRE. 93 

sympathy pervaded the breasts of the soldiers, 
and the tears of sensibility were visible in every 
eye. He bowed himself, with a smile, to all he 
knew in his confinement. When he approach- 
ed the fatal spot, and beheld the preparations 
he stopped, and paused, as if absorbed in re- 
flection ; then quickly turning to the officer next 
him, he said — " What I must I die in tliis man- 
ner ?" Being told it was so ordered, he instant- 
ly said, " I am reconciled, and submit to my 
fate, but deplore the mode ; it will be but a mo- 
mentary pang ;" and with a calmness that, 
-while it excited the admiration melted the heart 
of every spectator, performed the last offices to 
himself. He then requested that all around him 
would bear witness to the world,—" that he 
DIED LIKE A BRAVE MAN 1" He perished Uni- 
versally esteemed and lamented ; indeed, a 
general sorrow at his fate pervaded all ranks of 
people through the continent of America. 

As lie passed the church where 1 was confin- 
ed, while under trii\l, he asked the meaning of 
the crowd around it ? and when told I was then 
upon my trial as an accomplice, he sighed, and 
said — " Poor man ! ka knew nothing of the real 
business** 

General Washingt»n, in a letter to a friend, 
soon dOer the Major's execution thus expresses 
himself : — 

" Andre has met his fate, and with that forti- 
tude which was expected from ati accomplished 
man and a gallant officer ; but I am mistaken 1^ 



94 NARRATIVE OF THE 

' ». 

Arnold is not undergoing at this time the tor- 
ments of a mental hell." 

Even Major Andre's enemies, if it were pos- 
sible so amiable a character could have any, 
were as high in his applause, as the general 
mass were terrible in their execrations against 
General Arnold. 

I cannot here omit some notice of the charac- 
ter given of Andre by Bushrod Washington, in 
the life of his relative, the general ; for, as com- 
ing from an enemy, it ought to have a double 
effect to stamp the excellencies of the accom- 
plished sufferer : — 

" It would seem that art had been succesfully 
employed in the embellishment of those fasci- 
nating qualities that nature had lavished on him. 
Possessed of a fine person and excellent under- 
standing, he had united the polish of a court, 
and the refinements given by education, to the 
heroism of a soldier. When youth, adorned 
with such rare accomplishments, is consigned 
prematurely to the grave, all our sensibilities 
are roused, and for a moment human society 
seems to sustain a deprivation by the melancholy 
stroke.*' 

Colonel Hamilton, who was aid -de-camp to 
General Washington, as I have already men- 
tioned, and the same that was killed in a duel by 
Colonel Burr, vice-president of the United 
States, whose name has been so often mention- 
ed in the public papers, and who was lately tried 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 95 

for treason by order of President Jefferson, in 
a letter written at that time, says : — 

" There was something singularly interesting 
in the character and fortunes of Andre. To an 
excellent understanding well improved by edu- 
cation and travel, he united a peculiar elegance 
of mind and manners, and the advantage of a 
pleasing person. It is said he possessed a pret* 
ty taste for the fine arts, and had himself obtain- 
ed some proficiency in poetry, music, and paint- 
ing. His knowledge appeared without ostenta- 
tation ; his sentiments were elevated, and in- 
spired esteem, as they had a softness that con- 
ciliated affection. His elocution was handsome ; 
his address easy, polite and insinuating. 

" By his merit he had acquired the unlimited 
confidence of his general, and was making rapid 
progress in military rank and reputation ; but, in 
the height of his career, flushed with new hopes 
from the execution of a project the most benefi- 
cial to his party that could be devised, he is, at 
once, precipitated from the summit of prosperity, 
and sees all the expectations of his ambition blast- 
ed, and himself ruined. 

" The character 1 have given of him is drawn 
partly from what I saw of him myself, and partly 
from the best information. I am aware that a 
ipan of real merit is never seen in so true a 
light, as through the medium of adversity ; — the 
clouds that surround him, are as so many shades, 
thut set off his good qualities ; misfortune cuts 
down little vanities that, in prosperous times, 
serve as so many spots in his virtues, and give a 



96 NARRATIVE OE TIffi 

tone to humanity that makes his worth more ami- 
able. His spectators, who enjoyed a happier lot, 
are less prone to detract from it though envy, and 
are much disposed, through compassion, to give 
him the credit he deserves, and, perhaps, to 
magnify it." 

Bushrod Washington, in his life of the gene- 
ral, goes on to say :— - 

" The general-officers lamented the sentence, 
which the usages of war compelled them to pro- 
nounce ; and, perhaps, on no occasion of his life, 
did the commander in chief obey with more re- 
hictance the stern mandates of duty and of poli- 
cy : the sympathy excited among the American 
officers was as universal as it is unusual on such 
occasions ; and proclaims alike the merit of him 
who suffered, and the humanity of those who 
countenanced the punishment/' 

If we trace the history of military heroism as 
far back as the annals of imperial liome, or that of 
Briiian in any stage of its highest glory, we can- 
not find a superior constellation of admirable vir- 
tues in any man, not even in the Mountjoys, 
Veres, and Cecils. Major Andre testified that 
an English officer never forgets what he owes to 
his countiy in every clime ; the wreaths thai a- 
dorned the brows of the Talbots, Salisburys, 
Mov/brays, and a hundred other illustrious names 
of former ages, were acquired by Biitish valour 
in British officers ; nor have the Edv/ards and 
Henrys who have swayed the British sceptre 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 97 

disdained the duties of subordinate rank ; for ex- 
ample, Henry the Fifth in the glorious battle of 
Agincourt — and Edward the Third acquired, in 
the hostile field, those laurels that adorned him 
as an officer, and graced him as a monarch — and 
Major Andre, in the sacrifice he made of his life 
in the service of his sovereign, far surpassed the 
brave Greek, who exclain'^d — " What toils do I 
undergo, O Athenians ! that I may merit your 
approbation/* 

It was the courage, the virtue, and the gene- 
rous contempt of ease, wealth, and danger, that 
gave English officers, in the days of Queen Eli- 
zabeth, the highest lustre in the eyes of Europe 
and their countrymen : a distuiction, that neither 
birth nor titles can bestow ; while public approba- 
tion was not confined to the barren praise of fame, 
but more often productive of durable emolu- 
ment; and it is the glory of some of the noblest fa- 
milies in England, that merit in the field was re- 
warded by beauty at the court ; and both have 
concurred to transmit their distinguished hon- 
ours to posterity with undiminished lustre. 

The guardian and protector of the rights of 
Europe, the restorer of British liberty. King 
William the Third, was indebted not only for his 
throne, but his glory, to the virtue and courage of 
British officers ; and where they commanded he 
was never betrayed or disappointed. 

The same spirit exhibited itself in a more 

splendid and glorious manner in the reign of 

Queen Anne — Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, 

still lives unrivalled in history ; and need we go 

I 



n NARRATIVE OP THE 

farther than the present day, when the glorious 
achievements of the immortal Nelson still ani- 
mate each British breast ? 

A grateful nation will cherish the memory of 
the brave ; and our gracious sovereign, the bright- 
est ornament of whose reign has been to reward 
distinguished merit, has caused a monument to 
be erected in Westminster Abbey, which, with 
the historic page both of England and America, 
will perpetuate the virtue and gallantry of Major 
Andre through ages yet unknown. 



Descri/ition of the Monument in Westminster jib- 
bey.for MAJOR JOHN ANDRE, designed 
by Robert Jdam, Esq. Architect^ and executed 
in statuary Marble by Mr. P. M. Van Gelder. 

This monument is composed of a sarcopha- 
gus, elevated on a pedestal, upon the pannel of 
which is engraved the following inscription :-i-j 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 99 



SACRED TO THE MEMORY 

of 

MAJOR JOHN ANDRE, 

Wlio, raised by his Merit, at an early Period 

of his Life, to the Rank of 

ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE BRITISH FORCES 

IN AMERICA, 
and, employed in an important but hazardous Enterprise i 

FELL A SACRIFICE 

to his 

Zeal for his King and Country, 

on the 2d of October, 1780, aged 39, 

universally beloved and esteemed by the Army 

in which he served, and lamented even 

by his Foes. 

His gracious Sovereign 

KING GEORGE III. 

has caused this Moniunent to be erected. 



leO NARRATIVE OF THE 

On the front of the sarcophagus, General 
Washington is represented in his tent, at the mo- 
ment vvhen he had received the report of the 
court-martial held on Major Andre ; at the same 
time a flag of truce arrived from the British ar- 
my, with a letter for General Washington to 
treat for the Major's life. But the fatal sentence 
being already passed, the flag was sent back with- 
out the hoped for clemency in his favour. 

Major Andre received his condemnation with 
that fortitude and resolution which had always 
marked his character, and is represented going 
with unshaken spirit to meet his doom. 

On the top of the sarcophagus, a figure of 
Britannia reclined, laments the premature fate of 
so gallant an oflicer. The British Lion too, 
seems instinctively to mourn his untimely deatli. 

Ancient nor modern history does not exhibit 
an instance, where an oflicer fell so universally 
lamented by adversaries and friends ; an irre- 
fragable proof of unsullied honour, and superior 
merit. 

Eulogy cannot do sufficient justice to the de- 
serts of this rarely- accomplished hero ; and it 
must be some consolation to his surviving friends, 
that his and their foes drop the tear of sympa- 
thy, and mingle their sorrows at the same shrine, 
made sacred to virtue and truth. 

Never can my memory cease to record the 
impASsioned language of his countenance, and 
the energy with which he expressed his wish to 
be on board the Vulture, when viewing that ship 
from an upper window of my house ; I knew not 
his inestimable merits : General Arnoldj when 



DEATH OP MAJOR ANDRE. 10 1 

he took my coat, said he was a youn^ merchant, 
and from folly or pride had borrowed a British 
officer's coat from his acquaintance. No man's 
worth can be appreciated in the compass of a few 
hours ; my feeiingb were much exercised at 
Major Andre's distress, so strongly depictured 
in his countenance ; I thought he could have 
been returned, by a flag from General Arnold, 
by any of the officers at Stony Point, who were 
at that time under his immediate command ; and 
he was himself on the spot, on his way to West 
Point. The arrangement for his return by land 
was made between them the morning after Ma- 
jor Andre came on shore, when I was confined 
to my bed of the ague ; and surely it was more 
consistent with propriety to employ a military 
man than a citizen ; when there was no impedi- 
ment or contending influence to have prevented 
General Arnold's placing Major Andre in a state 
of perfect safety in half an hour. There ap- 
pears to have been a fatal infatuation throughout 
the whole of this transaction. 

The original interview was to have been held 
between General Arnold and Major Andre at 
Dobb's ferry, on the east side of the river ; the 
Vulture had been stationed there for the pur- 
pose some time previous to her moving up to 
Haverstraw Bay. General Arnold had made se- 
veral attempts to go on board himself; on two 
occasions he was near the ship, and was fired 
upon by her, and the barge that conveyed him 
narrowly escaped the shot ; this he declared to 
me on his return from one of these excursions 
Being disappointed, however, 
I 2 



102 KASRATIVE OF THE 

the meditated interview was proposed to take 
place in another way. The letter f;om Major 
Andre, of ihe 7th Sept. 1780. to Colonel Shel- 
don, before recited, ujid which was laid before the 
board of general-officers, states that there had 
been a correspondence between General Arnold 
and Major Andre, under the siy;natures of Gus- 
tavus and Anderson ; and Colonel Sheldon, Avho 
had not heard of Anderson before, when he in- 
closed this letter, is informed by General Arnold, 
in his answer, that he expected a person by that 
name to come from New- York, for the purpose 
of bringing him intelligence. These letters 
were'founci among General Arnold's papers after 
his flight from Kobinson's house. General Ar- 
nold explains this business fully in his letter to 
General Washington, dated from New- York, 
Oct. 1, i780, an extract of which I here insert ; — . 

*' Fvom your excellency's letter to Sir Henry 
Clinton, I find a board of general officers have 
given it as their opinion, that Major Andre comes 
under the description of a spy ; my good opinion 
of the candour and justice of those gentlemen 
leads me to believe, that if they had been fully 
acquainted with every circumstance respecting 
Major Andre, they would by no means have con- 
sidered him in the light of a spy, or even of a 
prisoner In justice to him I think it my duty 
to declare, that he came from on l)oard the Vul- 
ture, at my particular request, by a il^i^ sent on 
purpose for him by Joshua Smith, Esq. who had 
permission to go to Dobbs's ferry to carry letters, 
and for other purposes not mentioned, and to re- 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 103 

turn ; Mr. Smith, at the same time, had my pri- 
vate directions to go Oii board the Vulture, and 
bring on shore Colonel Robinson, or Mr. John 
Anderson, which was the nume 1 had requested 
Major Andre to assume ; at the same time i de- 
sired Mr. Smith to inform him, that he should 
have my protection, and a safe passport to return 
in the same boat, as soon as our business was 
completed. As several accidents intervened to 
prevent his being sent on board, I gave him my 
passport to return by land. Major Andre came 
on shore in his uniform, (witkout disguise,) 
which, with much reluctance, at my particular 
and pressing instance, he exchanged for another 
coat. I furnished him with a horse and saddle, 
and pointed out the rout by which he was to re- 
turn ; and, as commanding officer in the depart- 
ment, 1 hud an undoubted right to transact all 
these matters, which, if wrong, Major Andre 
ought by no means to suffer for them." 

From the above letter, as my name was confi- 
dentially mentioned by General Arnold, it would 
appear that I must have had some knowledge of 
the nature and extent of the objects meditated in 
this transaction, which, with the circumstance of 
lending my coat, were, with other collateral 
proofs, the strongest presumptions offered a- 
gainst me on my trial ;. on that account 1 was 
the more hardly pressed ; yet General Arnold, 
in a postsc! ipt to a letter he add essed to Gener- 
al Washington, from on board the \ uiture, the 
35th of September, 1780, declares as follows :- 



iO-i NARRATIVE OF THE 

N. B. In justice to the gentlemen of my fam- 
ily, Colonel Varick and Major Franks, 1 think 
myself in honour bound to declare, that they, as 
well as Joshua Smith, Esq. (who I know is sus- 
pected,) are totally ignorant of any transactions of 
mine, that they had reason to believe were inju- 
rious to the public." 

Of this I shall take notice when I come to my 
defence. 

Major Andre's remains were interred in an 
open field, belonging to a Mr. Mabie, in the vi* 
cinity. 

The Greyhound schooner, flag of truce, which 
brought General Robertson's last letter to Gene- 
ral Washington, dated on board the schooner on 
the 2d of October, the day Major Andre suffer- 
ed, carried to New-York the melancholy account 
of that events 

No language can describe the mingled sensa- 
tions of horror, grief, sympathy, and revenge, 
that agitated the whole garrison ; a silent gloom 
overspread the general countenance ; the whole 
royal army, and citizens of the first distinctioH, 
went into mourning. 

Sir Heniy Clinton, (although stung with the 
deepest sorrow for the loss of so valuable an offi- 
cer,) who best knew how to appreciate his me- 
rits, yet could not indulge that spirit of resent- 
jnent, in exercising the dictates of passion or 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANfiRK. 105 

policy, by ^ retaliation on a r.umber of Carolina 
prisoners, of the first distinction, who had for- 
feited their lives agreeable to the usage of war. 
In almost every instance where humanity could 
be exercised, the lenity of Sir Henry Clinton, 
was eminently ccnspicuous, boiK in civil and in 
military matters. 1 cannot forbear to mention a 
circumstaxice that occurred it New-York, whilu 
under his command : — 

A man, on the island of New- York, who had 
cultivated a garden >vith great care and labour, 
finding that it was constantly robbed at nii',ht, 
either by citizens or soldiers, was determined to 
tcnify the thief Accordingly, when dusk, he 
placed himself under the shelter of some bush- 
es ; — he saw a man cross his fence, and in the 
very act of taking his property, when he imme- 
diately fired a gun, without ball or shot, to drive 
him away ; this not having the desired effect, 
as' he continued his depredations, he immedi- 
ately discharged another musket, well loaded, 
and shot him dead on the spot. The alarm 
brought the neighbours together, and the man 
surrendered himself into the hands of justice. 
There being no courts erected for criminal cau- 
ses. Sir Henry Clinton, ordered that, as the 
malefactor was rich, he should pay a heavy fine 
to the relations of the deceased, who were poor ; 
the general thought it a better compensation 
than to take away the man's life. 

There are many instances which I could men- 
tion, of the benignity of Sir Henry Clinton ; but 



106 



NARRATIVE OF TH¥ 



the case of a Captain Robinson, who was prov- 
ed to be a spy, and several others, all of whom 
were released at the desire of General Wash- 
ington, shew that it was the invariable system of 
Sir Henry Clinton to prevent as much as possi- 
ble the horrors of war. 




APPENDIX 



THE solemn tragedy of the unfortunate Ma- 
jor Andre being closed, I shall proceed to 
relate what occured on my own trial, and the va- 
rious hardships I eJicountered through this un- 
happy transaction : I shall also add such other 
matters of fact, as will tend to throw light on the 
objects of this publication. 

It is v/^orthy of remark, that Major Andre's 
awful fate did not in the least seem to abate the 
1U17 of my persecution by General Washington. 
Notwithstanding the declarations of both Arnold 
and Andre, my guards were doubled, I was more 
closely watched, and I was assured daily that, 
from the additional evidences that were to be pro- 
duced against me, I ought to prepare for the 
same fate as had oefallen Major Andre. 

No farther tCL mony was, however, offered at 
Tappan, or Orange Town j for the day after the 
sacrifice of Major Andre, the 3d of October, the 
American army broke up their encampment, 
and marched to Piramus ; whether from an ap- 
prehension of being too near the British army, at 
that place no more than 20 miles, or that the 
country was sufficiently exhausted, I cannot pre- 
K 



110 APPENDIX. 

lend to determine ; the former, however, was the 
general opinion, from the enraged state of the 
royal troops. I was marched tinder the provost 
guard, on foot, very weak and languid, although 
my horse was ready to convey me, with one of 
my servants to attend me ; but he was not per- 
mitted to go, and the horse was stolen that night. 
I was at first placed in a barn, with my guard, 
but the night being wet and cold, I v/as, through 
the intreaty of a Colonel Lutterlough, a perfect 
stranger, suffered to sit before the fire, in a good 
kitchen, attended by some of the guard. 

During the night, being in much pain, arising 
from the fever and ague, which had not left me 
since my first arrest, one of the guard appeared 
to sympathise very sincerely with me, and in a 
whisper offered to aid me in effecting my es- 
cape, if I found myself able to undertake the fa- 
tigue, towards the morning ; being in no dispo- 
sition of mind or body to accept the offer, and 
fearing it a trap to deceive me, I declined the so- 
licitation, and had reason afterwards to find my 
apprehensions true, for the fellow confessed to a 
person of strict veracity, that he was employed 
to lay the temptation in my way. 

At Pirarnus were a number of genteel fami- 
lies, who had taken refuge there from New- 
York, and who, knowing myself and connexions, 
earnestly importuned General Washington to 
permit their sending me some provisions, 
the same application was made at Tappan, 
by the family were the general resided, but 
ihe humane individuals received at both pla- 
ces, a rude und an unfeeling denial. 



APPENDIX 111 

The army did not long continue here, but pro- 
ceeded to a place called Totowa Bridge, near the 
celebrated falls of Passaick. On the road I had 
another oflcr from two of my guard, that if I 
would make the attempt to escape at night, find- 
ing me better in health and spirits than 1 had 
been on the line of marcli, they would give me 
every assistance. Being natives of that part 
of the country, they assured me that 1 should be 
sheltered by their friends, who, they asserted, 
were attached to the King's interest. These 
people, I believe, were sincere ; and 1 knew that 
the far greater part of the inhabitants in the vi- 
cinity were loyalists, and had taken the oath of 
allegiance to the king in the autumn of 1776 : 
having, however, suffered so much already, and 
knowing that no evidence could touch my life, 
unless by subornation, I was unwilling to in- 
cur any risks, and therefoi e declined their offer. 
It was near this place that Colonel Baylor, of 
the Virginia cavalry, was surprised, and the 
greater part of his troops either cut to pieces, or 
taken prisoners. The inhabitants of this district, 
from their known attachment to the British in- 
terest, were accused of having piloted the royal 
troops to this attack, on account of their being 
plundered of their property by the soldiery un- 
der Colonel Baylor's command. About midway 
betv/een Paramus and Passaick Falls, at this 
place, my guard was relieved and doubled. The 
second night after leaving Paramus, I was placed 
under a strong guard at a public house, near To- 
towa Bridge ; before this I was kept in the open 
air. and forced to lie on the ground, which Lord 



112 APPEJ^DIX. 

Sterling observing, as he rode by, mentioned tiie 
ill usage to General Washington, and requested, 
as a family friend, that I might be sheltered ; 
this indulgence was consented to. I was well 
guarded at this bouse, having a captain with two 
centineis without, and one within the room of my 
confinement. I was left to subsist in the best 
way 1 could ; but this was not difficult, as 1 re- 
ceived supplies of cash from a source which I 
was then unarquainted with 

At length I was here again brought before the 
court-martial, when the following witnesses were 
produced, viz. Colonel Lamb, Mr. Jonathan Lau- 
rence. Mujor-General Howe, Captains Gardner 
and Hutchins, and Commodore Bovven, with se- 
veral others. 

The general purport of their testimony was 
little more than presumptive evidence, except 
that of Colonel Lamb, who declared that he was 
present at General Arnold's table, when the sub- 
ject of the flags was introduced in conversation ; 
and he confirmed whatl have already related on 
that subject. 

Through the indisposition of one of the mem- 
bers of the court-martial, their sitting was post- 
poned for several days. This circumstance, 
with the comfort of having a bed to rest on, and 
the privilege of procuring in the interim my 
own food, gave me fresh spirits to encounter the 
hardships of my situation. 

On the recovery of the member who was in- 
disposed, the court-mailial sat every day for a- 
bout a fortnight, but proceeded very slow in the 
examination of their witnesses ; it was conjectur- 



APPE^^D1X. llj 

cd by my friends that the delay was occasioned 
by the hope that some new matter of evidence 
would have arisen ; and no efforts were wanting 
on the part of the prosecutor to bring all the 
testimony against me which he could procure. 

During this period, I received a very consola- 
tory message from my brother, the chief justice ; 
my wife and family were permitted to see me, 
but not without some hesitation on the part of 
General Washington, who even reprehended 
Major-General Howe for his polite attention to 
them ; the general, however, answered, that as 
she was a lady of his acquaintance, and a native 
of Carolina, no power on earth should prevent 
him from discharging those duties, which hu- 
manity and politeness demanded. An elder 
brother of mine, in the profession of the law, 
was ordered from camp, until the court-martial 
had gone through their evidence. 

The examination of witnesses was protracted 
to a formight ufier my detention atTotowa Bridge ; 
and no farther evidence appearing, I was allow- 
ed to call such as might assist in my defence, 
while a short time was allowed for me to draw 
it up. 

As my life was at stake, and the interests of 
all that were dear to me were involved in my fate, 
ray family then consisting of a tender wife and 
two young children, my energies were exerted 
to the utmost, and in the space of forty-eight 
hours I presented a defence to the court-martial, 
which filled a quire of paper, closely written ; I 
read it to them, and a large part of ihe army, in 
the presence of a great concourse of the inhabi- 
K 2 



114 APPENDIX. 

tants. I should have no objection to present it 
to the public, but on considering the superior im- 
portance of the other parts of the narrative, I 
have no doubt that the reader will prefer its be- 
ing dispensed with. On delivering the papers 
to the judge-advocate I was ordered to withdraw. 

The defence principally consisted in com- 
ments upon the judicial power before whom I 
was made amenable. The resolve of Congress 
which authorised my detention, was passed on 
the 27th of February, 1778; it states as fol- 
lows, — '' that whatever inhabitant of these states 
shall kill, or seize, or take, any loyal citizen, or 
citizens thereof, and convey him or them to any 
place within the power of the enemy, or shall 
enter into any combination for such purpose, or 
attempt to carry the same into execution, or hath 
assisted, or shall assist therein ; or shall, by giv- 
ing intelligence, acting as a guide, or in any o- 
ther manner whatever, aid the enemy in the per- 
petration thereof, he shall suffer death by the 
judgment of a court-martial, as a traitor, assas- 
sin, or spy, if the offence be committed within 
seventy miles of the head-quarters of the grand 
or other armies of these states where a general 
officer commands." 

1 contended that this mere resolve of congress 
could not abolish a fundamental principle esta- 
blished in any of the civil constitutions of states 
in the union ; that the exercise of the power 
^'estf d by this resolution, deprived the subject of 
Ihe right of trial by ju - , the great bulwark of 
individual freedom ; and 'that it was in direct con- 
tradiction to the declaration of the reasons which 



APPENDIX. IIJ 

Con!^ress assign for their separation from tlie 
power of Great-Britiun. 

I shewed from several counter-resolutions and 
solemn acts of congress, that this resolve was 
suited to the then present occasion, and was not 
meant to obtain a general influence, but was 
only at that time applicable to Pennsylvania, the 
British troops being in the possession of the capi- 
tal of Philadelphia. 

And here it will not be inappropriate to men- 
tion the sentiments of Dr. Gordon, who in a let- 
ter to a friend on the subject of the American 
revolution, after reciting the resolution, says, 
" This resolution has been introduced to shew 
you what a stretch of power congress have been 
guilty of : they have hereby suspended, in par- 
ticular cases, the judicial authority of the Mas- 
sachusett's state, which is not the seat of war, 
and subjected certain criminals to a trial by 
court-martial, instead of leaving them to the 
laws of the state." He goes on to exemplify 
as follows : " At Providence a general officer 
commands a small army ; t the distance of forty- 
live miles from Boston." — The Doctor proceeds 
most justly to observe : " All bodies of fallible 
men possessed of, or claiming power, ought t© 
be narrowly watched, or, from good or bad in- 
tentions, they win transgress the limits of their 
constitution without a real necessity." This let- 
ter, reciting the resolve of congress, was dated 
from Boxbury, June 1, 1778. 

It must appear strange to the world, that 
Congress should violate those rights of citizen- 
ship, for which their country was drenched in 



115 APPENDIX. 

blood. This flagrant injustice will mark 

THE SAVAGE FEROCITY WITH WHICH THEIR 

GENERAL SOUGHT MY LIFE, (not Sufficiently 
glutted with that of the accompiished Andre,)* 
and ought to be a ivamijig to fiosteritij how they 
invest tyrants with any sort of power ■i that thctj 
can with imfiunity abuse. 

Without any one as my counsel I was com- 
pelled to enter on my defence, which I did with 
the more cheerfulness, from the candid and im- 
partial manner in which the trial was conducted 
by the judge-advocate, and the court-martial in 
general, but more particularly the president. 
Colonel Henry Jackson, of the town of Boston, 
in the Massachusett's State. 

In order to form a correct idea of the reason- 
ing offered in my defence, it will be necessary 
here to repeat the charge, to shew the manner 
in which it was drawn up by the prosecutor, 
General Washington. 

" You stand charged for aiding and assisting 
Benedict Arnold, late a major-general in our 
service, in a combination with the enemy, for 
the purpose of taking, seizing and killing such 
of the loyal citizens and soldiers as were in 
garrison at West Point and its dependencies." 

* The unprincipled baseness of this assertion will 
be duly appreciated by every Anierican who reveres 
the memory of the illustrious character who is the sub- 
ject of it. We think we may apply to Mr. Smith, with 
perfect justice, tlie following couplet from Trumbull's 
^iTing-al : 

** No man e'er felt the halter draw 

•* With g-ood opinion of the law." Am. Pb, 



APPENDIX. M7 

I insisted, in my answer, upon the following 
general principles : 

1st. That General Arnold was actually major- 
general in the American service at the very- 
time I was engaged in the combination specified 
in the charge, and that I could not have any 
agency without his sanction and direction ; for 
General Arnold did not relinquish his commis- 
sion until the 1st of October, 1780, the day pre- 
vious to Major Andre's death, as will appear 
from his following letter to General Washing- 
ton, when at New- York : 

« Sir, 

" I take this opportunity to inforni your excel- 
lency, that I consider myself no longer acting 
under the commission of congress, their last to 
me being among my papers at West Point ; 
you, Sir, will make such use of it as you think 
proper. 

" At the same time I beg leave to assure your 
excellency, that my attachment to the true inter- 
ests of my country is invariable^ and that I am 
actuated by the same principle, which has ever 
been the governing rule of my conduct in this 
unhappy contest. 

" I have the honour to be, &c. 

*' B. ARNOLD.'' 

The testimony of the two Colquhouns proved 
that General Arnold himself gave the instruc- 
tions for us to go on board the Vulture ; that he 
furnished the boat, directed the muffling the oars, 



118 APPENDIX. 

offered tlic reward for their labour, and, in case 
of non-compliance, threatened the punishment 
he was authorised^ to inflict. 

2dly. That the charge, in the present instance, 
was a charge of treason against the United 
States ; treason being a crime of the highest 
magnitude known in the law, the law demanded 
that it should be supported by the strongest testi- 
mony. 

Under this head I proved that the constitution 
of the State of New- York had confirmed all the 
acts of parliament, that had been in use by the 
colony of New-York under the ancient govern- 
ment, previous to the declaration of indepen- ' 
dence in July, 1776, and, consequently, the act 
of parliament respecting treason, passed in the 
reign of Edward the Third, as it had heretofore 
been used and considered, was in full force, and 
applicable to the case in question. 

This statute enacts, that each and every sepa- 
rate overt-act of treason shall be supported by 
the testimoBv of two witnesses, agreeably to the 
sacred scriptures, '• By the mouth of two wit- 
nesses every word shall be established.'* 

In contradiction of this statute, I proved that 
the whole of the evidence that had been offered, ' 
could amount to no more than presumptive evi-^i 
dence. 

odly. I urged as an established maxim, that in 
every charge or indictment for high ciimes or 
misdemeanors, the knowledge of the party, 
charged with having committed the criminality, 
vliould be so stated in the charge or indictment. 



APPENDiiS. 119 

and made out by the most clear and conclusive 
testimony. 

I demonstrated, from the particulars in the 
charge, that this was not the case, and that not 
one of the witnesses had suggested the idea ; 
not even Colonel Hamilton, who attempted it 
by some able reasonings upon what 1 had said in 
my examination before General Washington, on 
my being first brought before him. Colonel 
Harrison declared, that I delivered my declara- 
tion to General Washington with firmness and 
perspicuity, and was unembarrassed until inform- 
ed by the general, that Arnold had fled to the 
British standard ; I then appeared, for a mo- 
ment, astonished, it being the first intimation I 
had received of his flight. At that time 1 could 
scarcely believe General Washh.gton's assertion, 
and frankly toid him, if there was any error or 
mismanagement he must look to General Ar- 
nold, I having acted solely by his direction, and 
had uniformly done what I conceived to be for 
the best interest of America. 

4thly. I averred, tliat in all courts of justice 
in particular, every man, however accused, was 
always presumed innocent until he was proved 
guilty ; and that the most wise and rigid admin- 
istrators of justice upon the bench, and other- 
wise, had invariably determined, that where the 
cause was doubtful, the scale of justice should 
preponderate in favour of the accused, upon the 
principle already established, — that it was better 
that ninety-nine criminals should pass unpunish- 
ed, than that one innocent man shirald unjust- 
ly sufier. 



J20 APPEJ^DtX. 

5lhly. I proved, from the authority and usage 
of all courts of justice, that where the party's 
declaration or confession is brought as evidence 
against himself, that the whole must be taken 
together, and not abstractedly ; as, if otherwise 
through the art of the accuser, the most inno- 
cent man might be made to contradict and con- 
demn himself: and — 

6thly And lastly, I corroborated these gene- 
ral principles by authorities founded in reason 
and in law and the concurrent usage of civil po- 
licy in all Christian and enlightened nations. 

After establishing these positions, I entered 
upon a critical examination of the whole evi- 
dence that had been offered, and clearly proved, 
that not one of the positions supported the charge 
exhibited against me, upon the slightest grounds 
of reason or equity. 

I noticed some contradictions in the testimony 
of the Marquis de la Fayette, and the evidence 
of General Knox, as well as that of Colonels 
Harrison and Hamilton, and made particular re- 
marks on the reasonings of the latter, who, as 
a minion of the prosecutor, appeared very desi- 
rous to prove me guilty. 

As these were the principal evidences, and the 
whole of what was adduced on the part of the 
prosecution, of any material consequence, and 
these too merely of a circumstantial nature, I 
informed the court I might now safely rest on 
my defence. 

But, lest any misconception should arise in a 
case wherein I was so deeply interested, I reca- 
pitulated the whole evidence,-— with this solemn 



APPENDIX. V 

appeal — ^That what I had declared to General 
Washington was strictly true — what I had iiicn- 
lioned to my confidential friend, Colonel Hay — 
what I then declared to the court-martial — what 
I should continue to declare, through every pe- 
riod of my life — and in that solemn day, when 
an omniscient God should scrutinise my con- 
duct ! 

Having finished my defence, I vvas remanded 
under guard, and conveyed to the place of con- 
iinemcnt. Previous to my arrival, some person 
had mentioned to the good woman of the house, 
in which I was imprisoned, that 1 was condemned 
by the court-martial, on which the good house- 
wife, in a furious rage, refused me admittance. 
The reader may conceive that I was not a little 
shocked with this instance of vulgar unfeeling- 
ness ; another place was therefwre found for my 
reception, in which I waited in suspence for 
several days, but consoled myself with the re- 
flection that 1 had discharged my duty, to the 
extent of my ability, for the benefit of my dis- 
tressed family ; and composed my mind to sup- 
port with resignation and fortitude whatever 
might befal me: 

During this confinement, I had a visit from 
two of the court-martial, (a Major and a Captain) 
accompanied by the Judge-Advocate : the court- 
martial consisted of a Colonel, Major, and 
twelve Captains, principally of the Connecticut 
line of the army, who, being General Arnold's 
countrymen, it was supposed, would be more 
enraged against me, if it had been proved that 
I was in his confederacy i and I must coafess 



122 APPENDIX. 

that, at the time, I considered them in no other 
light than a packed jury : but no gentlemen 
could have acted with more candour and Ubera- 
lity, after the principal evidences were taken. 

The object of the iMajor's interview was to ob- 
tain from me an explanation of the reason why 
my name was inserted amongst those of the in- 
habitants, that >vere found upon Major Andre ? 
This appeared to be a great stumbling-block to 
him, and which, as I have already observed, I 
could not remove ; he left me, apparently much 
affected by my unhappy situation, and said, the 
court-martial v/ould soon determine on my case. 

Some few days after, I had a visit from ano- 
ther of the court-martial, who, during the whole of 
my trial, sympathised much with me, and ex- 
pressed himself greatly concerned, lest General 
Washington should direct a re-consideration of 
the sentence that had been passed. 

Although these hints tended to re-animate my 
hopes, they were not satisfactory, for I knew the 
malevolence of the prosecutor against my family, 
and was convinced, that after having gone such 
lengths illegally and unconstitutionally, he would 
not readily relinquish his revenge, while there 
was the least colour of justice to gratify it. I was 
informed that there were those about his person, 
who were inclined to cherish in his mind senti- 
ments prejudicial to my hopes ; and among them, 
the infamous Col. Bull, whose notorious charac- 
ter has already been exposed. I depended 
greatly upon the open and unreserved assertions 
of General Greene, the principal confident <■ 
General Washinf};ton, who freely gave his opv 



APPENDIX. 123 

ion, that if" I was guilty, there was not sufficient 
testimony aj^ainst me to touch my life ; and 1 
knew also that my nephew, Colonel William 
Livingston, was unAvearied in his solicitations 
with the general to interest him in my behall', 
and to whom General Clreene owed considerable 
o'oiigations. 

Thus languishinf^' under the various impres- 
sions of hope and fear, 1 seriously ' wished a ter- 
mination to an existence that had become a bur- 
then to me ; — my days were inibittered by the 
thoughts of my afflicted family. — Even at this 
distance of lime, my heart recoils at the recollec- 
tion of those scenes of horror that tortured my 
imagination. It was conjectured by some, that 
General Washington had ti'ansmitted my case to 
congress for ultimate direction ; by others, that, 
as I had appealed to the civil authority, he appli- 
ed to the executive power of the state to which 
I belonged. I was lost in conjecture, — when, 
on tile morning of the lOth of November, I was 
roused from my stupor by an officer of the horse, 
who delivered a note to the officer of the guard, 
under whose custody I was, and then, turning to 
ntie, desired me to follow him immediately ; I 
■most cheerfully obeyed, for any situation was bet- 
ter than the miserable state of suspence which I 
had so long endured. 

A troop of horse was recruiting at the door, 
and a led horse was brought to me, which 1 was 
commanded to mount. When we were at some 
distance from the house, I ventured to ask where 
we were going ? I'he officer sternly replied, 
I should soon see. Totowa Bridge lies in a val 



124 APPENDIX. 

ley, and on reaching the eastern hiil, I couidper- I 
ceive that he had taken a circuiious road towards 
the Hudson River. I now indulged myself with 
the hope that perhaps, I migltt once more, see 
m.y little family. We rode silently on, followed 
by our guides with drawn sworcis ; various co- 
lourings of different impressions that stole across 
Ti.y mind, respecting my futiu'e destiny, perplex- 
ed me much ; when I was roused from my re- 
verie, by a stroke upon my horse, and a thunder- 
ing outh that if I did not press on. we should not 
arrive at our journey's end that night. I endea- 
voured to hasten the poor emaciated animah but 
my etforts were unavailing, till the humane officer 
dismounted, and gave me one of his spurs ; with 
this aid, we soon reached the skirts of Paramus, 
where we halted to refresh ourselves and horses, 
at a Dutchman's tavern, for by that name al- 
most all the inns are culled ; the landlord knew 
me, and was preparing to dress me a chicken, 
but my grutf comparion swore in broken high- 
Dutch and English, ^.hat the peef and bork was 
good kanough for a damned dory. The landlord, 
however, soothed his choier, by offering him 
some cyder spirits, wliich instantly produced so 
wonderful an effect, that from a single draught, 
the swaithy gloom of his countenance assumed 
a milder aspect. Having dined, we instantly 
proceeded: my companion now became garru- 
lous, and in his broken elocution, discovered that 
he v.as a Pennsylvanian soldier in the regiment : 
of Young Losberg, who had deserted his colours. | 
A few miles farther, we perceived the sign of a 
pul)lic house, and as I found the cyder spirit had ■ 

i 



APPENIHX 12j 

so excellent an effect, I pressed him to take a- 
nother libation to Baccus, and to permit me to 
treat the troop, to which he readily consented ; 
but heavily did I re-enter the house, for it was 
here that the unfortunate Andre and myself had 
halted when under the charge of Miijor Tal- 
madge, on our way to Tappan from West Point. 
My German commander now became quite fresh 
and lively, and disputed upon political subjects 
■with the landlord, who told him he only differed 
from a hogs for want of bristles ; to which my 
hero replied by calling him a Dory tog, (mean- 
ing a Tory dog.) and dat he was worser dan turn- 
coad Arnold. 1 supplied him abundantly with 
the country nectar, which detained him until 
near dark ; I did this designedly,~as a I began 
to suspect it was his orders to convey me to 
AVest Point ; in which conjecture I was not mis- 
taken, — for when we had proceeded a few miles 
farther, he informed me his orders were to that 
effect. My next plan was to linger on the way 
as much as I possibly could, in order to make it 
.late before we could arrive at King's Ferry, in 
the hope of continuing on the west side of the 
river, and enjoying the happiness of seeing my 
family, which were then at my brother's, two 
miles and a half from the ferry, and whose house 
we were obliged to pass. In this scheme 1 was 
materially aided by the weariness of the poor 
beast on which I rode ; and, from the double mo- 
tive of pity to him, and the much stronger one of 
delaying our journey as much as possible, I made 
it, notwithstanding my companion's entreaties, 
quite late before we reached my brother's at Hav- 
L 2 



126 APPENDIX. 

crstraw. Here I met Colonel Buit, who was on 
a visit, and who, to my inexpressible satisfaction, 
prevailed upon my commander to halt tor the 
night. Most of the family had retired to bed, 
but, upon the unexpected news of my arrival, they 
soon rose, and the happiness of again beholding 
the beloved object of my heart, at once banished 
all my past sorrows. But my joy was momenta- 
yy — for the officer of my guard informed the 
family, he was ordered to proceed with me to 
West Point with all possible dispatch, and that 
whatever conversation we wished, must take 
place that night, as he was compelled to separate 
us by bleak of day. The better to secure me, he 
slept on a sofa in the same room with my family 
during the night, although Colonel Burr was my 
security, and carefully posted the guards around 
the doors and windows, giving them a counter- 
sign in case of alarm. 

This was a distressed scene to my poor part- 
ner in sorrow, for though she bore her affiiciion 
with an exemplary patience, yet she was so over- 
come with this military parade as to be totally 
disqualified for much conversation, nor had I any 
to impart but of a nature too gloomy to afford her 
any comfort. 

The morning soon came, and with it a heavy 
storm ; Colonel Burr endeavoured to persuade 
the officer, from the weak and languid state I 
was in, to suffer me to remain until the tempest 
was abated, v/hich he consented to do, if Colonel 
Burr would ask permission from Colonel James 
Livingston, at Verplank's Point, to whom I was 
to be sent. A messenger was accordingly dis- 



APPENDIX. nr 

patched for this purpose, who m^tantly returned 
with aniessiipje, that the request could not be 
granted, reprimanding* the officer for his delay. 
Thus situated, I was compelled to leave my ta- 
mily in the utmost anxiety of mind. Being ar- 
rived at the ferry, I was placed in an open boat, 
and conveyed eighteen miles through a most 
violent storm, to Robinson's house, the first scene 
of my sorrow ; I was detained here only till the 
storm abated, when I was sent across the river 
to the place where I WaS first confined, but ap- 
parently under a stronger guard than beioie at- 
tended me. Upon my arrival here, a suspicion 
forcibly occurred to my mind, that us i was charg- 
ed with confederating to deliver- this post into 
the hands of the liritish army, it might be Gen- 
eral Washington's design to execute the sen- 
tence of the court-martial at that place, as more 
exemplary to the garrison, from the crime I was 
charged with having committed. 1 experienced 
many inconveniences in this place, for as it was 
a garrison where there was no market, I could 
obtain no provisions. I therefore addressed a line 
to General Heath, from Massachusetts, who 
commanded here, and informed him that I was 
in a starving condition : he immediately gave di- 
rections to the commissary for ratiops, such as 
they were, and by his aid-de-camp, a Major Ly- 
man, he informed me, that I was at liberty to 
write to my friends for whatever supplies 1 might 
want, previously submitting my letter to his in- 
spection ; this I readily did, and v/as soon fur- 
nished with the articles that were requisite. 
Availing myself of this condescension op. 



128 APPENDIX. 

the part of General Heath, I wrote again lo my 
friends, to supply me with clothing, bedding-, and 
other necessaries, not attainable in the garrison ; 
I took the liberty to express myself very freely 
on the severity of Colonel James Livingston's 
conduct, in sending me, when in a violent fever, 
through so severe a storm, a harshness which no 
policy could warrant, and which was even repug- 
nant to humanity. After a day*s detention of n^y 
letter, I was indulged with his answer to the fol- 
lowing effect, — " that in my situation, language 
less spirited would be more becoming ; and that 
it would be as improper for him to transmit my 
letter, as it was unbecoming in me to write it.'* 
Being so often, and continuing so ]ong under the 
apprehension of death, '•^ per fas aut nefas" I had 
lost all fears of that event, and as a Vveek had 
now elapsed, and my execution was still suspend- 
ed, I began to alter my first opinion, and dis- 
missed the apprehension that I was sent here for 
that purpose. Although unfortunate, 1 v/as not 
abject ; I therefore wrote to the general a ^vva, 
decent, yet animated letter, requesting to know 
the cause 6f my being sent to West Point ; in- 
forming him that, as a citizen, 1 had been ille- 
gally tried by a court-martial, which had report- 
ed my case to General Washington'; I also de- 
sired to know the determination of that court- 
martial, if he was instructed or allowed by Gen- 
eral Washington to afford me such inform-alion ; 
inclosing at the same time a printed copy of the 
constitution, to justify the validity of my asser- 
tion. 

Several days had now elapsed, and I had some 



APPENDIX. 12?^ 

indulgences allowed, which I had not heretofore 
received. This change inspired some hope of 
emancipation , when, contrary to my expectation, 
on the 1 8th of N'ovember. I was desired, by a Cap- 
tain Sheppard, of the New- Jersey Coniinental 
tioop, lo prepare in an hour's time to follow him ; 
and, within the time limited, he came, attended 
by his company, consisting of about fifty men. I 
marched with him, aero- 3 the Highland Moun- 
tains, to a place called Smith's Clove, a valley, 
which took its name from my family, as possess- 
ing a greater part of the land it contained, as well 
as round its vicinity. 

Captain Sheppard, perceiving the very infirm 
state to which I was reduced, when we arrived 
at the settlement, very humanely proposed, that 
if i could procure a horse, he would indulge me 
with riding ; but as this accommodation could 
not be obtained at that place, 1 expressed a wish 
to be permitted to piss three miles out of the 
main road, to a fxrm belonging to my family, 
where a brother of mine resided, as I had no 
doubt I should there succeed in procuring hors- 
es ; to this he acceded ; and mentioned, that the 
place of my destination was known only lo the 
Sheriff of the County of Orange, at Goshen, a- 
bout thirty miles from West Point. 

The hoapitaliiy with wluch the captain and 
soldiers v^erc treated on our arrival, and the un- 
restrained freedom they had taken with the 
strong cyder of the country, threw them entire- 
ly off their guard, and the servant whom I had 
been idlowcd to have with me at West Point, 
having been dismissed to return to my family at 



130 APPENDIX. 

Haverstraw, had in his way passed on before me, 
and hi formed the tenants of the family estate of 
the situation in which I was placed ; many of 
whom came to see me that night, and in their 
zeal to serve me, were very solicitous that I 
should avail myself of the opportunity which 
circumstances then presented me, to effect my 
escape. This district was celebrated for the at- 
tachment of the inhabitants in general to the 
British interest, who had frequently encouraged 
and protected parties, from New- York in their 
mountainous rec>;sses ; and it was in this defile, 
that the celebrated Captain Moody, in May, 1 78 1, 
intercepted an expresss from General Washing- 
ton to congress, communicating the result of his 
interview with the commanders of the land and 
naval forces of France, and which disclosed to 
Sir Henry Clinton, the design of General Wash- 
ington to attack the scat of the British power, 
New-York ; and enabled Sir Henry to take the 
necessary precautions to prevent the combina- 
tion, by strengthening the garrison ; in withdraw 
ing from Lord Cornwallis a part of the troops, 
then under his command at Williamsburg, in 
Virginia ; and ordering his lordship to repass 
James River, and retire to Portsmouth, when 
possessed of every advantage. I make this di- 
gression, as the importance of the passes of the 
Hi?2;hiands was, and possibly niay be again, the 
subject of military contemplation. I muf^t be 
allowed to add, that almost all the communica- 
tions between Canada and New-York passed 
through this place, there being a regu'ar con- 
nection of the King's friends, where thcv could 



APPENDIX. IJl 

take their stages during the whole war, in the 
greatest safely. 

But to return to the narrative. — The debilitat- 
ed state of my health would not, had I btcn in- 
clined, have permitted me to accept the many 
offers of assistance to effect my escape ; nor 
could I have conceived myself honorably justi- 
fied in adopting a measure of that kind, after 
the humane and liberal manner in which I had 
been used by Captain Sheppard, v/ho not only 
mitigated the severity of my situation, by every 
amiable act of sympathy the next day, on the 
road to Goshen, by suffering me to ride unguard- 
ed the greater part of the way ; but when I ar- 
rived, and the sheriff, into whose hands he had 
been directed to deliver my mittimus^ was prepa- 
ring, in compliance with its command, to place 
me in the most safe and secure custody, he be- 
came my advocate, interceded in my behalf for 
a relaxation of his rigour, and declared the hon- 
ourable manner in which 1 had regarded the 
confidence he had placed in me on the road. 

The mittimus^ under which I was committed, 
was signed by or William Williams, Gilbert 
Livingston, and Robert Harper, the committee 
of commissioners for detecting conspiracies 
within the state of New- York ; this was as arbi- 
trary an act of oppressive tyrasmy, and as un- 
constitutional, even upon their own principles, as 
the military tribunal from which I appeared to 
be discharged. 

A board of commissioners had been appointed 
in the first stages of the war, for the purpose of 
dftte^ring conspiracies ; but after the constita- 



132 APPENDIX. 

tionwas framed, defining the liberties of tine 
subject, and the Ici^islatuie of the state had 
been convened, this board, and all committees 
"vvere abolished ; beinj^ only tolerated until the 
regular government was 'organised. 1 was not 
in a situation, however, to resist this stretch 
of arbitrary power ; and, not long after my new 
confinement,, the grand jury of the county met 
in this place, it being the principal county town. 
Much art and industry were employed by the at- 
torney-general, to induce the grand jury to find a 
bill of indictment against me ; but the injustice 
and cruelty of attempting to place a man's life 
in danger twice for one and the same offence, 
was spiritedly rejected by them ; of this I was 
informea by several members who composed the 
grand jury, who reprobated the measure as ille- 
gal, unconstitutional and barbarous. After this 
attempt, many who had been refused access to 
me, were now admitted ; my family were al- 
lowed to visit me, and to administer those sup- 
plies, and consolations, which the state of my 
health rendered indispensably necessary from the 
length of my confinement, and the vicissitudes I 
had undergone. 

A short time after this, the jai! v/as filled with 
those who professed themselves to be the King's 
frends ; Tories, and those who were prisoners 
•f war ; felons, and characters of all colours 
and descriptions. This occasioned a special 
commission of oyer and terminer, or general 
jail deliveiy to be issued. The wretched state 
of the country operated only to inci'ease its mi- 
series, by inftictio!! oji" new puuisl-Lmcn:^. A; 



APPENDIX. 13^ 

the session of Unit court, another attempt was 
made vviih the t^rand jiny, to pcrsiuide them to 
find a bill ot indictmeni, but all their efibris were 
in vain ; this grand jury, as well as their pre- 
decessors, were composed of the first people of 
the county, attached to the ancient governmejit, 
and heartily wearied with the confusion and dis- 
tractions ot the unsettled state of public affairs. 
The campaign of this year was now over, and 
never were congressional afiairs in a more ruin- 
ous state. The general disposition of those 
aWio had been most active became lukewarm, 
and the disaft'ected to the emancipation of the 
empire by the measure of independence daily in- 
creased, from a variety of causes ; and, among 
others, the introduction of the French troops 
was not the least ; for the remembrance of 
their cruelties in the Canadian war, was not ob- 
literated frem the minds of the most intelligent 
observers, who clieaded the re-possession of 
Canada by that power; others, who were stre- 
nuous advocates of Independence, were driven 
to greater exertions from the declaration of the 
»ench monarch, — that the situation of Luro- 
pean afiairs would require all the exertions 
which that nation could make for its own preser- 
vation ; and that ail his strength wus necessary to 
maintidn the common cause, which might ren- 
der America as much ser\ice at home as else- 
where ; and congress wus plainly inlbrmed, that 
after that campaign, tliey must expect from 
Trance no farther pecuniary, or militaiy assis- 
tance. The ccddress, albo, of General Arnold 
to »he inhabitants of America, after having abuii- 
M 



134 APPETSDIX. 

doned the Republican cause, powerfully mflu- 
enced the mmds of the citizens ; the facts it con- 
tained,' in justification of his conduct, were un 
answerable ; and, as it operated to create pecu- 
liar vengeance against those who were the king's 
friends, it had a singular effect in exasperating 
the leaders of opposition against myself, under 
the impression of my being charged as connect- 
ed with him, in the unhappy transaction wherein 
Major Andre fell a sacrifice. 

For the sake of elucidation, I will here insert 
this address. 

« M'w-York, Oct. 7, 1780. 

*' I should forfeit, even in my own opinion, the 
place I have so long held in your's, if 1 ^ould be 
indifferent to your approbation, and silent on 
the motives v/hich induced me to join the King's 
arniy. 

" A very few words however, shall suffice on 
a subject so personal ; for to the thousands who 
suffer under the tyranny of the usurpers in the 
revolted provinces, as well as to the great mul- 
titude who have leng wished for its subversion, 
this instance of my conduct can want no vindica- 
tion ; and as to that class of men who are crimi- 
nally protracting the war, from sinister views, at 
the expense of the public interest, I prefer 
their enmity to their applause. I am, therefore, 
only concerned in this address, to explain my- 
self to such of my countrymen as want abilities 
or opportunities, to detect the artifices by which 
they are duped. 

" Having fought by your side when the love of 



APPENDIX. 135 

uur country animated our arms, I shall expect 
Irom your justice and candour, what your de- 
ceivers with more art and less honesty, will find 
iiiconsistent with their views to admit. 

" When I quitted domestic happiness for the 
perils of the field, I conceived the rights of my 
country in danger, and that duty and honour 
called me to her defence. A redress of griev- 
ances was my only object and aim ; however 
I acquiesced in a step which I thought precipi- 
tate ; the acclamation of hidependence ; to jus- 
tify this measure, many plausible reasons were 
urged, which could no longer exist, when Great- 
Britain, with the open arms of a parent ofiPered 
to embrace us as children, and grant the wished- 
for redress. 

" And now that our worst enemies are in our 
bosom, I should change my principles if I con- 
spired with their designs ; yourselves being judg- 
es, was the war less just because our fellow-sub- 
jects were our foes ? You have felt the torture 
with which we have raised our arms against a 
brother — God incline the guilty protractors of 
these unnatural dissensions to resign their ambi- 
tion, and cease from their delusions in compas- 
sion to kindred blood. 

" I anticipate your question, Avas not the \var 
a defensive one, until the French joined in the 
combination ? I answer that I thought so. You 
will add, was it not afterwards necessary till the 
separation of the British Empire was complete ? 
By no means. — In contending for the welfare of 
my country, I am free to declare my opinion, 
that this end attained, all strife should have ceas- 
ed. 



U.6 APPENDIX. 

*' I lamented, therefore, the impolicy, tyranny, 
and injustice, which, with a sovereign contempt, 
the people of America, studiously neglected to 
take their collective sentiments on the British 
proposals of peace ; and to negociate, under a sus- 
pension of arms, for an adjustment of differen- 
ces ; I lamented it as a dangerous sacrifice of the 
great interests of this country, to the partial 
views of a proud, ancient, and crafty foe. I had 
my suspicions of some imperfections in the coun- 
cils, on proposals prio- to the commission of 1778, 
but having then iess to do in the cabinet than 
the field, (I will not pronounce peremptorily as 
some may, and perhaps justly, that congress have 
exiled them from the public eye) I continued to 
be guided In the negligent confidence of a sol- 
dier. But the whole world saw, and all Ame- 
rica confessed; that the overtures of the second 
commission, exceeded our wishes, and expecta- 
tions ; and if there was any suspicion of the na- 
tional liberality, it arose from its excess. 

Do any believe that we were really at that 
time, entangled by an alliance with France ? Un- 
fortunate delusion ! They have been duped by 
a virtuous credulity, in the incautious moments 
of intemperate passion, to give up their felicity, 
to serve a nation wanting both the will and pow- 
er to protect us ; and aiming at the destruction 
both of the mother country and the provinces. In 
the plainness of common sense, for I pretend not 
to casuistry, did the pretended treaty with tlie 
court ol V^ersailles, am.ount to more than an over- 
ture to America ? Certainly not : because no au- 
tj.jcr.ity had been given by the people to conclude 



APPENDIX. iSr 

It, nor to this very hour have they authorised its 
ratification. The articles of confirmation remain 
still unsigned. 

" In the firm persuasion therefore, that the 
private judgement of an individual citizen of this 
country, is as free from all conventional restraints 
since, as before, the insidious ofters of F' nee. 
I preferred those from Gieat-Britain ; thinking, 
it infinitely wiser, and safer, to cast my tonfi- 
dence upon her justice and generosity, than trust 
a monarchy too feeble to establish your indepjn- 
dency, so perilous to her distant doininio.is. the 
enemy of the protetsant faith, and fcaudulen'ly 
avowing an affection for the liberties of maiikincl, 
while she holds her native sons in vussalage and 
chains. 

" I affected no disguise, and therefore frankly 
declare, that in these principles, 1 ha i deteiMiiin- 
ed to retain my arms and command, for an op- 
portunity to surrender them to Great-Britain ; 
and in concerting the measures for a purpose in 
my opinion, as grateful, as it would have been be- 
neficial to my country, I was only solicitous to 
accomplish an event of decisive importance, and 
to prevent as much as possible in the execution 
of it, the effusion of blood. 

" With the highest satisfaction, I bear testi- 
mony to my old fellow-soldiers, and citizens, that 
I find solid ground to rely upon the clemency of 
our sovereign, and abundant conviction, that it is 
the trenerous intention of Great- Britain, not only 
to leave the rights and privileges, of the colonies 
unimpared, together with their perpetual ex- 
emptioi) from taxation, but to superadd such 
M 2 



i38 APPENDIX. 

farther benefits as may consist with the common 
prosperity of the empire ; in short, I fought for 
much less than the parent country is willing to 
grant to her colonics, or such as they can be able 
to receive and enjoy. 

<' Some may think. I continued in the struggle 
of the unhappy days too long, and others that I 
quitted it too soon. — i'o the first 1 reply, th.t I 
did not see with tlieir eyes, nor perhaps had so 
favourable a situation to look from, and that by 
our common master I am willing to stand or full. 
In behalf of the candid among the latter, some of 
whom I believe serve blindly, but honestly, in 
the band I have left, I pray God to give them all 
the light requisite to consult their own safety be- 
fore it is too late : and with respect to the herd 
of censure rs, whose enmity to me originates in 
their hatred to the principles by which 1 am now 
led to devote my life to the re-union of the British 
Empire, and as the best and only means to dry 
up the streams'of misery that have deluged this 
country, thty may be assured that conscious of 
the rectitude of my intentions, I shall treat their 
malice and calumnies with contempt and neglect. 
" B. ARNOLD." 

Besides this address to the inhabitants at large, 
General Arnold issued a proclamation to his late 
brethen in arms, wherein he says " You are 
promised liberty, but is there an individual in 
the enjoyment of it, except your oppressors ? 
Who among you dare speak, or write, what he 
thinks against the tyranny which has robbed you 
©fyaur property, imprisons your persons, drags 



APPENDIX. 139 

you forcibly to the field of battle, and is daily de- 
lup.in^ yoU"' coun" ry. wuhyour blood? You are 
fltiiteicd with indepeacleiice, as preferable to a 
redress of grievances ; and to obtain {iiM sha- 
dow you forego substantial happiness, and involve 
yourselves in ail the wretchedness of poverty. 
The rapacity of your own rulers has already ren- 
dered you incapublc of supporting the piide of 
character they taught you to aim at, and must, 
ineviiably, shortly belong to one or other of these 
great powers which their folly and wiciedness 
have drawn into the conflict. What is America 
now ? a band of v*'idow3, orphans, and beggars ; 
and can you, who have been soldiers in the con- 
tinental army, c^.n you. at this day want evidence 
that the funds of your country are exhausted, or 
that the managers have applied them o tii-.ir 
own private use ? In either cuse, you surely no 
longer continue in this service with honour, and 
advantage ; you have hiiher.o been their sup- 
porters in that cruelty, which, with an equal in- 
difference to yours, as well as to the labour and 
blood of others, is devouring a nation that from 
the moment you quit their colours, will be re- 
deemed from their tyranny " 

The effect of the address and proclamation 
was various. They gave infinite satisfaction to 
the moderate, and those who were tlie advocates 
for peace, in the re-union of inc empire, while 
they opened the eyes of the uninformed ; yet on 
the other hand, they stimulated the advocates for 
independence, to themost violent exertion ; and 
those who were the unhappy victims of their 



140 APPENDIX. 

power, felt all the force and influence of theii 
vengeance. Many matters of the most interest- 
ing nature, respecting the state of public con- 
cerns, and congress, were never at any period 
of the war, involved in such an entangled laby- 
rinth of embarrassments. Two parties agitated 
the congress, the one adhered implicitly to the 
advice of General Washington, the other party 
were apprehensive of laying the foundation for a 
standing army, which they considered destruc- 
tive to the liberties of a free people, and were 
unwilling to give a sanction to its influence, by 
encreasing the military force in the number al- 
ready enlisted to serve during the war. 

As with individuals, so political bodies, and 
states, when their affairs fall to the lowest ebb, 
they ar^r either sunk into despondency, or are 
roused to more vigorous exeriions ; and there 
cannot be a more true test of this observation in 
communities, that when their public measures 
are stained with a spirit of bitterness. Under 
the influence of this principle, the legislature 
of the state of New- York, passed an act con- 
verting the testimony which was necessary to 
convict in a charge of treason, to wit, by two 
evidences, to each separate overt 'act ; and by 
another clause, made the testimony in casfes of 
felony sufficient to criminate in treason ; and to 
suffer the act to operate as well to the past, as 
all future treasons that might be committed ; 
contrary to ancient usage, and the established 
law of the land. The established principles 
upon which the Federal government acted in 
The constitution of general govemment of the 



APPENDIX. HI 

United States, are as follows : and these ai'ticles 
of the constitution of America, were cnrered 
into by a convention of only nine of the states 
held at New- York, and transmitted for their ap- 
probation, by General Washington who was 
presi.Ient of this convention, and from which I 
shall make a few extracts. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section 9. 

The privileges of the habeas corjms shall not 
be suspended, unless when in cases of rebel- 
lion, or invasion, the public safety may re- 
quire it. 

No bill of attainder or expost facto law shall 
be passed. 

ARTICLE in. 

Section I. 

The judicial power of the United States, shall 
be vested in one supreme court, and in such 
inferior courts, as the congress m .y irom 
time to time ordain and establish. I'he 
judges both of the supreme and inferior 
courts, shall hold their offices during good 
beh.iviour, and shall at stated 'imes receive 
for their services a compensation, 'vhich shall 
not be diminished during their continuance 
in office. 



142 APPENDIX. , 

Section 2, 

The judicial power shall extend to all cases 
in law, and equity, aiising under this con- 
stitution, the laws of the United Stales and 
treaties made, or which shall be made, 
under their authority ; to all cases affect- 
ing ambassadors, other public ministers, 
and consuls, to all cases of admiralty ma- 
ratime jurisdiction ; to controversies to 
which the United States may be a party, 
to controversies between two or more 
states, between a state and citizens of 
another state, between citizens of differ- 
ent states ; between citizens of the same 
state claiming lands, under grants of dif- 
ferent states, or between a state or citi- 
zens thereof, and foreign states, citizens 
or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, or other 
public ministers and consuls, and those 
in which a state shall be party, the su- 
preme court shall have original jurisdic- 
tion. In all the other cases before men- 
tioned, the supreme court shall have ap- 
pellate jurisdiction both as to law, and fact, 
with such exceptions, and under such re- 
gulations, as congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of 
impeachment, shall be by jury ; and such 
trial shall be held in the state, where the 
said crimes shall have been committed ; 
but when not committed in any state, the 
trial shall be at such place or places as 
the congress may by law have directed. 



APPENDIX. 14S 

Section 3. 

Treason against the United States shall con- 
sist only in levying: war against them, or 
in adhering to their enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. 

No person shall be convicted of treason 
unless on the testimony of two witnesses 
to the same overt act, or confession in 
open court. 

The congress shall have power to declare 
the punishment of treason ; but no at- 
tainder of treason shall work corruption 
of blood, or forfeiture, except during the 
life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section 1. 

Full faith and credit, shall be given in each 
state to the public acts, records, and ju- 
dicial proceedings of every other state ; 
and the congress may, by general laws, 
prescribe the manner, in which such acts, 
records, and proceedings, shall be proved, 
and the effect thereof. 

Section 2. 

The citizens of each state shall be entitled 
to all privileges and immunities of citi- 
zens in the several states. 



144 AP?£Nl)fS. 

A person charged m any state with treason, 
felony, or other crime, who shvM fly from 
justice, dnd shall be found in another 
state, shcUl, on demand of the executive 
authority of the state from which he fl^d, 
be delivered up; to be removed to the 
state having jurisdiction of the crime. 

The congress shall have power to dispose 
and make all needful rules, and regula- 
tions, respecting the territory, or other 
property belonging to the United States ; 
and nothing in this constitution, shall be 
so construed as to prejudice any claims 
of the United States, or of any particu- 
lar state. 

Done in convention by the unani- 
mous consent of the states present, the 
seventeenth day of September, in the 
Year of our Lord one thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-seven, and of the 
Independence of the United States of 
America, the twelfth. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

President. 



I have taken the liberty of making the above 
extracts, as it plainly exhibits the injustice 
and a.-].crity exercised on this occasion against 
myseh, und which was in some instances 
practised on others ; an injustice so totally re- 
pugnant to the general principles from which 
the opposition to Great-Britain first started^ 



APPEIsDlX. 145 

and to which they returned, as appears in the a- 
bove-fecited solemn acts, at the conclusion of 
the war. That which was law and the rule of 
right to-day, v/as renounced the succeeding, as 
policy dictated the application to the party inter- 
ested on the occasion ; indeed it was difficult to 
know what the law really was. 

On the conclusion of this campaign, the im- 
portance of West Point became more the object 
of attention, and General Washington, the better 
to guard this Gibraltar of America, as it was not 
inaptly termed, removed his head quarters to 
New Windsor, in the vicinity ; so that from the 
window where I was confined, I had the daily 
mortification to see the troop of horse which 
conveyed me from the camp of Totowa Bridge 
to Stony Point, pass and repass with some new 
unhappy victim to political rage, not without ap- 
prehension that some severe measures, in con- 
sequence of tampering with any new witnesses, 
might again place me under military tyranny. 
One morning, as I was ruminating on my miser- 
able situation, I was roused by my goal door be- 
ing suddenly forced open, I was challenged by 
the sherifll'to know if I had any hand in the bu- 
siness of aiding the Tory prisoners to effect their 
escape from the dungeon ? Alarmed at the ques- 
tion, and the information it communicated, 1 re- 
plied, That he well knew from my infirm state, 
it was impossible I could give them any assis- 
tance ; this he granted, but said, in reply, that 
although 1 could render them no personal assis- 
tance, I might direct some of my agents to do 
adding, that he would take care, I should 
N 



146 APPENDIX. 

have no further communication with any person, 
and that I might expect a niilitaiy guard again 
very soon, to take charge of me. In this state 
of mental apprehension I was detained, for som.e 
time. 

The circumstance here alluded to was as fol- 
lows : — There were a number of persons who 
were taken in arms, amounting to some hun- 
dreds, who were going to join the King's troops 
in Canada ; these were residents of the Western 
settlements, where the country being thinly in- 
habited, they had no jails, or, at least, none large 
and strong enough to contain the number of per- 
sons that were captured, and who were therefore 
brought to this place for greater security. A- 
mong them were some of the most daring and 
hardy people, belonging to Colonel Brand and 
Butler's corps of Whites and Indians ; fifty of 
these were crowded in a small cell, m hich had 
a window grated with strong bars of iron, and a 
centinel to watch it. Notwithstanding his vigi- 
lance, however, some implements were convey- 
ed to the prisoners, who, in the night, by gentle 
degrees, picked away the mortar from the heavy 
foundation-stones, and in the course of one night, 
made an aperture large enough to admit a man 
of almost any size to pass through, which they all 
tiid, and effected their escape. 

To this event I was presumed to be an accom- 
plice, ^and was consequently watched with more 
severity, as v- ell as deprived of those occasional 
indulgences to which I had been accustomed. 

About this time the quarter sessions and coun- 
ty- court sat, when I petitioned it for jny discharge 



APPENDIX. 147 

by proclamation, which was, heretofore, the law 
of the land, while, two courts having previously 
sat, I was clearly entitled to the prayer of the pe- 
tition. The answer to it, however, was, that I 
could not he heard, nor the prayer of the petition 
granted, unlii the direction of the commission- 
ers of conspiracy had been obtained. 

I will here hec; leave to remark, that the war- 
rant of my commitment to the sheriff, was for 
my safe custody, until discharged by due course 
of law. — Here again, was another violation of the 
ancient system of law, and directly repugnant to 
the new constitution of the state. 

Soon after this was another conspiracy found 
out, consisting of a number of persons, who were 
supposed to be sent from New-York, to persuade 
the blacks to desert from their masters, in this 
part of the country ; great numbers of whom, 
availing themselves of the British troops being 
in possession of Stony Point, which lay conti- 
guous to the mountains of the Highlands, had 
plundered their masters, sought refuge in that 
part, and afterwards gone to New-York, >vhere 
they were emancipated. A farmer, in the vicini- 
ty of the jail, having retaken one of these black 
renegadoes, who, through the channel described, 
was endeavouring to make himself as indepen- 
dent as his master, had confined him in it, in the 
hope of bringing him to a sense of his duty. He 
was (considering the few advantages he had had 
of improving his mind,) possessed of singular 
endowments ; and had sufficient address to per- 
suade his master, that if he would permit his 
hand-cuffs to be taken off, he would return home 



14« APPENDIX. 

with him, and faithfully re-enter into his ser- 
vice. The master, who felt disposed to relax in 
his severity, ordered the irons to be removed ; 
but wished to have some better proof of his sin- 
cerity than his mere word, and therefore, siili 
kept him in confinement, fearing, as he was a 
desperate fellow, he might do him, or his fami- 
ly, some injury; for when re-taken, he was in 
company with another, who had left the famous 
blockhouse, near Fort-Lee, in Bergen woods, 
and, in revenge for former ill usage, had priva- 
tely passed through the wood, and shot his mas- 
ter. 

This was the blockhouse so very unsuccess- 
fully attacked by General Wayne, with the flow- 
er of the Continental troops, defended principal- 
ly by negroes, deserters from their masters, and 
which was the subject of the severe satirical po- 
em, called the " Cow Chace," written by the 
unfortunate Major Andre. 

The black man being thus indulged by his 
master, by degrees had greater liberties granted 
him, preparatory to his being taken home | he 
v/as permitted to do menial offices for the jail- 
keeper, into whose confidence he had insinuated 
himself, and thereby was entrusted with deliver- 
ing the provisions to the prisoners, and was the 
person who provided those, I have mentioned, 
with the tools, *by 'which they effected their es- 
cape from the aungeon. 

Being among the number of unfortunate pri- 
soners confined in that jail, 1 found this man, in 
the absence of my servant, very useful and at- 
tendve, in rendering me many little services, for 



APPENDIX. H9 

which he would receive no remuneration, and 
which, being observed by the jailor, engendered 
a strong suspicion of m)- being a party in the 
plot ; but this suspicion did not end here : it was 
industriously circulated that there were eviden- 
ces who were prepared to prove it ; and I was 
credibly informed that a deserter from the con- 
vention troops had actually sworn before a jus- 
tice of the peace, that he overheard me advise 
this black man to make his escape as soon as he 
could, and that I had offered him money to help 
him on his way to New-York, as well as to give 
him directions where he might be secreted on 
the road, and procure a guide through the moun- 
tains. 

Alarmed at these infamous designs, I deter- 
mined to lose no time in contriving the means 
for my own security, by eveiy opportunity that 
should offer. A few days after, another special 
court of oyer and terminer and general goal de- 
livery was notified to sit, and the supreme court 
of judicature for the trial of causes, with an ac- 
companying jurisdiction within a fortnight. 

I therefore, sought the earliest opportunity to 
inform my wife of my determination to effect 
my escape ; she did not long hesitate.to come to 
me from Haverstraw and confirm me in my re- 
solution. 

There was a lady in the village who had given 
me assurances that if once I could find an op- 
portunity to quit the jail, she would secure me 
until I could procure a guide to conduct me in 
safety to any place of security. This lady had 
long svmpathizedin my distresses j she had suf- 
N 2 



15© APPENDIX. 

fered much by the war, particularly on account 
of the loss of her husband, whose life had been 
most unjustly taken away for his allegiance to 
his sovereign. Mrs. Smith in consequence, in- 
formed her of my determination. Fortunately 
a few days after, several [arsons came to see me 
as well on business as from friendship, and they 
having interest with the deputy sheriff, persuad- 
ed him to suffer me to come out of my place of 
confinement, and sit with them in the open 
court room, in order to transact some business 
of a pecuniary nature. As the bottle was mov- 
ing briskly round, I thought it a good opportu- 
i>ity to favour my design ; there were three in 
company ; and two of them, who were rigid de- 
mocrats, had become quite inebriated, while the 
other, my particular friend j was not much bet- 
ter. I affected to be in the same situation. It 
was now the evening of the 2 2d of May and 
nearly dark ; Mrs. Smith, who had that day been 
permitted to sit with me in my place of confine- 
ment, was anxiously waiting to see if I could 
avail myself of a favourable opportunity ; she 
sent our servant to say she wished to speak to 
irs.e, and would not detain me a moment. I apol- 
ogised to my companions, who readily excused 
my absence, expecting my speedy return. — 
When I came near the door of my prison, I sud- 
denly turned, and from a wink of my servant, went 
down a stair -case that was at the side of it, and 
without delay made to the outer doof of the jail, 
which, not being bolted, I went out, and made 
all the haste I could m my very weak state, t( 
5 church-yardj not far distant, hoping to slielte. 



APPENDIX. 151 

miyself behind the tornb-siones, until any search 
that might lake place, should be over ; I had not 
reached the spot more than ten minutes, when 
I saw the jailor quietly light my companions out 
and wish them a good night ; they immediately 
mounted their horses, and rode genily away. 

I was astonished that no search was made after 
me, but knowing the address of Mrs Smith, I 
presumed she had used her best management ; 
for, as soon as she was told by the servant of 
the course 1 had taken down the stairs, she sent 
him immediately to inform my companions, that 
I was too much disguised lo vejoin them, and 
had laid down ; they, therei«'}) ; . quietly came 
to the door, wished her a goo • r:i^lu, and then 
mentioned the state they left m-:- in to the jaiior, 
"who went up, locked the jail-dooi, and supposed 
all was right. 

It now became dark. — and as the jail was fixed 
at the point, where four roads met, 1 had to 
cross two of them to obtain the place of my 
appointment, and had nearly gained the second, 
when I heard the jail-door open, and shut very 
liard, and, soon after, the sound of persons, as 
if running with speed ; I knew that by crossing 
a fence, 1 should soon gain a brook, which, at that 
season, was generally full of water ; fear aided 
my steps, and having reached the stream I bold- 
ly plunged in, gained the oppobite bank, and 
leaning my head against it, could clearly distin- 
guish the sound of people passing the road i had 
just crossed ; I continued in this state until after 
midnight, before I thought it prudent to move, 
for the court being to sit so soon, they generally 



152 APPENDIX. 

brought to tlic to^vn a great concourse of people, 
to be in readiness for their different avocations, 
preparatory to trials, Sec. At length I proceed- 
ed to the house of my protectress, who, with a 
sister, wereia wailing for my reception, and who 
received me with tears of sympathy on seeing 
the wet and forlorn state I was in, without hat or 
shoes. They instantly warmed some strong cy- 
der with ginger for me ; after this refreshment 
they provided me with a pair of blankets, and 
conducted me to a shed, as a place of security, 
v/here there war, some straw, and advised me to 
take resi — but the balmy friend was a stranger to 
my tortured mind, from the anxieties which agi- 
tated me for the safety of my amiable wife, who, 
I knew, from the extreme delicacy of her mind 
and frame, would suffer in her state of confine- 
ment, and be solicitous for my safety. She did, 
indeed, undergo much alarm ; but having a faith- 
ful servant witii her, she kept him in conversa- 
tion during the night, which greatly beguiled 
the time, and helped to mitigate the horrors of 
the place. When the jailor opened the door in 
the morning, the servant was ready to take up 
her small trunk ; my wife met him at the door, 
wished him a good morning, and, passings him 
with the servant, left him to look for me in the 
bed, which she had formed to have the appear- 
ance of a person lying in it. Before he had dis- 
covered that the bird was flown, she was out of 
the jail ; and proceeding directly to the clergy- 
man of the town threw herself upon his pro- 
tection. He assured lier that, while undeu his 
roof, he would prevent her from receiving any 



APPENDIX. 153 

injury, though he might not be her surety against 
insult from the ignorant rabble, nor could he say 
how far he might be implicated in law, but that 
he would exert himself to the utmost in her be- 
half, as a sincere friend to the family. 

This clergyman was a humane and good man ; 
he was an orthodox Calvinist, a warm advocate 
for the independence of America, and being the 
only clergyman in the town, he, for the two last 
reasons, possessed great influence, and was 
therefore better able to protect Mrs. Smith, than 
any other person she could have applied to in her 
dilemma. 

She had scarcely taken refreshment, when she 
was followed by the sheriff He had previously 
been at the inn, where, finding her carriage and 
horses, he seized them for confiscation ; and her 
servant, the same that was in jail with her, in- 
formed him where his mistress was to be found, 
when all being secured, he came in quest of her. 
His first address on entering the clergyman's 
house was insolent in the highest degree ; he 
was, however, checked by her venerable friend, 
and becoming more moderate, he declared that 
if she did not instantly inform him where her 
husband was he v/ould detain her until I was se- 
cured ; that he would have me, dead or alive ; 
that he had parties out on every road ; and 
that those who succeeded in my apprehension, 
would receive one hundred dollars for their 
trouble. Finding herself protected, Mrs. Smith 
boldly answered, that she had reason to be- 
lieve, I was by that time far out of his reach, 
that in v/hat she hud done she was well advised 
!5y the first counsel at law in the state, and dp^ 



154 APPENDIX. 

fied the exercise of his power as a sheriff, in any 
thing he could or might do to her prejudice. In 
much passion he then left her, charging the cler- 
gyman not to suffer her departure until he return- 
ed, saying that the attorney- general was shortly 
to be in the town of Goshen, and that he should 
take his advice on the subject. 

The worthy clergyman, with the tenderest 
humanity, endeavoured to console Mrs. Smith in 
this embarrassed situation, and succeeded in per- 
suading her to take some rest, which she had 
not long enjoyed, when she was disturbed by the 
sheriff, accompanied by the state's attorney ; they 
exerted their combined rhetoric to persuade her 
to reveal the plaee of refuge I had sought, and 
what route I had taken ; finding this of no effect 
to gain any information, they added threats, and 
declared, they would confine her in case of non- 
compliance ; but all this proving ineffectual, 
they left her in the custody of the clergyman, 
in the full expectation of my apprehension. 

Knowing that I was in good hands, and that 
no further aid could be rendered on her part, 
Mrs. Smith availing herself of the absence of the 
sheriff, and to rid herself of any further impor- 
tunity, hired a coach, and proceeded to her 
family at Haverstraw. 

The whole of this procedure was detailed to 
me the ensuing evening, to my no small satis- 
faction, that matters had so "far terminated well ; 
though my joy was not unmixed with pain at the 
reflexion, that so ara.iabie a woman had to en- 
comiter so much misery. 

The shock of my first arrest, and near nine 



APPENDIX. 15j 

months imprisonment, together with the loss of 
almost all our property, affected Mrs. Smith to 
such a degree, as brought on a decline, which 
she never recovered ; and she might truly be 
said to have died a martyr to grief. 

During my residence in this jail, I had many 
offers to procure my enlargement, but there was 
no one to be trusted. One unfortunate prisoner, 
who endeavoured to escape, was' betrayed by hi& 
guide, and carried before General Washington. 
Another, through the ignorance of his guide, 
mistaking his route, was taken upon the lines, 
and, as well as his conductor, was brought back, 
tried, and sentenced to imprisonment during the 
war. 

After Mrs. Smith's departure, the most dili- 
gent search Avas made to discover me. Parties^ 
were sent in different directions from the four 
roads that led from the jail ; but on their reti^ra 
without success, it was concluded, I must be se- 
creted in the town, among the King's friends, 
who were by far the most numerous and respecta- 
ble of the inhabitants. On the evening of the third 
day, before my good protectress had any hint of 
the'^measure, a young lady came hastily to her, 
and informed her, that a few hours ago her fa- 
ther's house had been searched, and she had 
heard the party say, they should next take the 
road where my good friend lived ; she instantly 
came to me with the intelligence, and advised 
my leaving the place where I was for another 
more secure, which was a hollow between two 
stacks of chimnies ; this I did not approve of, 
as the place had a auspicious appearance, and 



156 APPENDIX. 

seemed to me calculated for a hiding-place, I 
therefore observed, that as it wasfiear the even- 
ing, I would go out to the woods, and return 
when dark ; I had scarcely mentioned my reso- 
lution, when the young lady called to her, and 
said the guards were very near the house, — 
when instantly snatching up one of my blankets, 
I stept lightly down the stairs, she following with 
the other blanket : we heard the tramp of a num- 
ber of steps in the piazza ; — Imade immediately 
to the back-door, and crept under a small hen- 
coop ; she hastily threw her blanket over it, — 
and, turning round, met the party coming in at 
the front-door. My protectress being a suspect- 
ed person, from the reasons I have already men- 
tioned, her house was searched with great care ; 
and the young lady afterwards informed me, that 
in the very hole where she wished me to secret 
myself, they thrust their bayonets and pikes ; so 
that had 1 been there, I must inevitably, have 
been put to death ! The house being thorough- 
ly searched, they proceeded to the barn, stables, 
and even the pig-sty ; and passing the hen-coop, 
imder v/hich I was concealed, they were about 
to take oflp the blanket, when my protectress ex- 
claimed, " For God's sake do not hurt my poor 
chickens ;" on which they went into the house, 
and I could hear them distinctly charge her with 
knowing where I was ; alarmed, lest her fears 
might overcome her fortitude, I immediately 
crept out, and made the best of my way to an 
adjoining wood, under the cover of darkness 
which had commenced. 

Having reached the wood, I was involved in 



APPENDIX. 157 

doubt what course to take ; to go back did not 
scern prudent, as on my return, some soldiers 
might be left as a guard ; it now began to rain, 
and fortunately a large hollow tree otTered me 
a shelter from its rage. A variety of conflicting 
passions agitated my mind ; for that very niglit 
a person was to come and bring rae clothing, and 
take me part of my way to New-York, upwards 
of eighty miles. To omit profiting by this 
chance, I knew, would be imprudent ; and the 
person I expected had promised to assist me, and 
possessed my most unlimited confidence. At 
length it occured to me that the lady, from 
whose house I had just escaped, had a relation 
about five miles distant : I knew him to be a 
kind, friendly man, to whom I could commit 
myself with safety. Thither, therefore, I deter- 
mined to proceed ; and when in the main road, 
I thought I could easily reach his house. I trav- 
elled all night ; it rained during the whole time ; 
and my feet being tender, from the distressing 
and unusual state in which I was placed, I made 
but little progress, especially along a slaty and 
rocky country. When I had walked a consider- 
able distance I halted, intending to wait for the 
dawn of day ; this advancing sjowly, I seated my- 
self on a rock, faint, fiitigued, and lacerated with 
briars, and passed my time in lamenting the hard 
fate which my civility to a stranger hud intailcd 
upon me. 

On the approach of day I saw something like 
a liousc^ and the appearance of light ; I advanc- 
ed towards it : the reader will here again form 
some faint idea of my sensations, when I found 
O 



158 APPEKDIX, 

the spot was near the gibbet, and the house I had; 
discerned was the jail, fiom whence 1 had es- 
caped in the dark. I had lost ray road ; and m 
my bewildered state of mind, had the whole night 
been wandering back again, over the same 
ground I 1 Aiiiicted, dismayed, and almost ex- 
hausted, I had i\o other alternative than to reiurn 
to the place from whence I had last escaped — and 
now gave up all for lost ! It was, however, for- 
tunate that I had not far to go, for day-light ad- 
vanced ; and I omitted no time in regaining the 
good woman's house, having the main road be- 
fore me ; and being equally fortunate in not meet- 
ing a single traveller, or my forlorn appearance 
must have attracted notice, and, perhaps, have 
led to a discovery. 

I observed, on my approach, that there was 
light in the house, and once more assuming cour- 
age, fortified by hope. I ventured to tap gently 
at a window from whence the light appeared, 
and, in a minute, the door was opened for my re- 
ception. My female friend informed me, that 
the party, who had been there the preceding day^ 
were not satisfied with their first search, but in- 
sisted on making another by candle-light, which 
they did, and even commanded her to open every 
closet, chest, and trunk, declaring they had au- 
thority to confine her, unless she told them where 
I was. — and that one of thenri even went again t© 
the chicken-coop, under which I had been con- 
cealed, and thrust his bayonet into various parts 
of it. She said it was well I had overheard the 
conversation, and resolved to withdraw ; and 
she consoled me by saying, I now had nothing to 
fear, as tbev had i^;one away p<rrfectly fsattsfied, I 



APPENDIX. 159 

mentioned my attempt to reach the residence of 
her relation for shelter, and I had the pleasure 
to learn that there I should have been safe ; but 
it was providential that I missed my way, for a 
large party of Condnental troops were encamped 
not far from his house, and I must have passed 
them before I could arrive at it. 

Combining all these circumstances, which ap- 
peared so providential, I was lod, independent pf 
tlie fatigue I had just passed through, to take 
some rest in my former birth, with renewed 
ground to encourage hope. 

My friend had promised to be with me the 
following night, but when that came I was sorely 
disappointed. Through a chink in the place of 
my retreat, I could see the members of the court, 
Judge, jury and all, pass and repass ; and, indeed, 
I was every moment in dread of being discover- 
ed, and brought back to my old quarters. In 
this situation I continued, however, five days, 
under the most painful apprehensions. 

At length my guide arrived ; he had been ve- 
ry prudently employed in reconnoitring the road, 
before he would venture to conduct me. He 
appointed the ensuing evening for my escape, 
and came punctually, w^ell arm.ed and mounted, 
with a change *of dress for myself, a complete 
disguise. I had no sooner equipped myself, than 
throwing a woman's cloak over me, he took me 
wp behind him, on a strong horse : — we went 
ten miles that night, without any interruption, 
meeting many persons we both knew, with whom 
Jae conversed ; but they, supposing me to be a 
woman, some relation of my friend's did not di* 
c^ct their discourse to me ; he was prepared, if 



160 APPENDIX. 

they had done so, to tell them that the won.ivn 
was deaf! The name of the place, where we 
halted, was Chester, and the man of the house 
was nicknamed the whiaperer^ from the circum- 
stance of his speaking- so loud in common con- 
versation, as to be heard at a very great distance. 

If he had addressed me, I should have been 
reduced to an aukward dilemma ; as my pretend- 
ed deafness would have been no subterfuj^e. 
However, he took no notice of me, a neglect for 
which I felt much obligation. 

From the whisperer's we proceeded through, 
a part of the Highland Mountains, passing Ster- 
ling and Ringwood iron -works, to the confines 
of Pumpton Plains, to the house of a man who 
was one of the king's warmest friends, and 
among the Dutch inhabitants, famed for being 
double-jointed, as well as an ambidexter. We 
found the house crowded with Continental troops, 
my friend observing the crowd went in, leaving 
me at a small distance ; the landlord soon came 
out, and directed us to a small hovel, at the end 
of his farm, where he promised he would come, 
and bring us refreshment ; he w^as not gone long 
when he returned, and informed us we must 
change our route, for that the road we proposed 
going, across Pumpton Plains, was filled with 
troops going to and from camp, and advised my 
friend to go towards Pauls-hook, especially as he 
did not understand the Dutch language, the dialect 
spoken in that part. This we thought most ad- 
visable ; and my friend took his departure leaving 
me in the ambidexter's confidence and protec- 
tion. 

The succeeding night, the ambidexier came 



APPENDIX- 164 

to rne with a good horse, and another for him- 
self; we had then to pass a narrow defile, be- 
tween two mountains ; and he mentioned to me, 
that possibly we might at that plaee be challeng- 
ed by a centinel, to^ whom he would answer, and 
that I might ride on briskly, there being no turn- 
ing on the road, and he would soon overtake me. 
When we had gone about five miles, we were 
suddenly challenged — '^ Who comes there ?'* 
He answered, " Friends ;'* and rode up to the 
person. I gave my horse a free rein, and pres- 
sed on ; soon after, I heard the discharge of a 
musket, and was overtaken by ambidexter, who, 
passing, called to me to come on as fast as possi- 
ble ; he had not rode a mile, when, following 
close, I saw him turn up on the left, through 
the woods, in a narrow path, whither 1 followed. 
We soon dismounted ; and, after tying the hor- 
ses to a tree in the valley, he led me through 
€he roughest rocid imaginable, path intersecting 
path, and, from an eminence, shewed me, when 
^ay appeared, Tolowa Bridge ; he then left me, 
ito go and seek a friend, who would be mine also. 
It was near night before he returned, accompa- 
nied by two men, who were to see me safe into 
I?onter's Hook. They brought some provision, 
and a bottle of spirits, and observed, that they 
■weekly to New-York with country produce, 
six and requested to know what I would went 
give them for their trouble ? I shewed them 
moidores, which I said, was all I then had, 
but Avould make up any sum they thought right, 
when we came to New-York. Having previous- 
ly paid ambidexter, I took my leave of him --- 
He t€ld my guides in low Dutch, which I uti- 
O 2 



162 APPENDIX. 

derstood, that he was stopped on the road by tlie 
centinel, who attempted to seize the bridle of his 
horse, saying, '» that is Smith that has passed," 
upon which ambidexter jerked the horse's head 
aside, and ga^e the centinel a severe blow on the 
arm, and then left him to join me. Ambidexter 
(whom I have seen since, as well as the two 
men, my new pilots,) recommended me to their 
special care, assuring them he knew me, and 
saying, they would be well paid, if they convey- 
ed me safe. We lost no time in going down a 
steep hill, which brought us by a short cut to 
Totowa Bridge. 

My reflections and sensations in passing this 
bridge, which I had so often crossed to and from 
my trial, were painful, from the various ideas 
that successively passed in my mind. One of 
the men, turning to the other, said in Dutch, 
*' he may now think himself safe, for the damned 
rebels dont often pass that bridge, except in 
numbers; for fear of accident, we will take the 
mountain -road." Here they stopped ; and ihcn 
turning to me, one of them said, " Friend, we 
must now give you some directions. As we 
should be suspected if three of us were seen to- 
gether, I will go first, nearly out of sighi ; you 
follow next, but be sure you have me in view ; 
if you hear me sing loud, you must jump out of 
the road into the bushes ; then my partner, hav- 
ing his eye upon you, and seeing you do that, 
immediately runs to me, knowing that some 
person is coming forward ; if they have seen but 
iwo persons on the road, and my partner sup- 
plies your place, the two persons are there siill i 
^1 the other hand, if he hears or sees any p^.r- 



APPENDIX. m 

son coming after him, he sings, and you must 
do the same, go into the bushes, and he will run 
to supply your place ; I stand still ; and, on their 
coming, the two persons seen are my partner 
and myself** 

Understanding them perfectly, (though, per- 
haps, these cautionary arrangements may not be 
sufficiently clear to the reader,) we went on, 
and, in a few hours, reached Aquakinac, on the 
banks of the Passaic, or, as some call it. Second 
River, over which is built Totowa Bridge. 

Here we entered the house of one of my pi» 
lots ; and only in two instances was I obliged to 
go out of the road, and this was caused by per- 
sons whom we met, but from none that overtook 
us. I was put into a private room, where 1 had 
every thing that I could wish for. 

At length the happy period arrived, when I 
syas to take the last stage of my journey ; and on 
the evening of the 4th of June, 1782, my two 
pilots crossed this river in a small cedar canoe, 
or boat, to the opposite shore, which was a salt 
meadow, sometimes overflowed by the tide, 
which leaves a muddy slime, over which a light 
boat may easily be drawn. We passed a large 
tract of meadow, some miles in length, before 
we came to another river, called Hackinsack 
River, on the opposite shore of which, near the 
foot of Snake Hill, we discovered a party of 
men, who hailed us ; not answering, they fired 
several shot, but they fell far short of us. We 
now judged it prudent to hide the boat, in the 
hedges, and retire, as they could not pass to us ; 
this being done, we hid ourselves,— -and soon af- 
ter heard several voilies, appearing to us as if 



164 APPENDIX. 

two parties had been attacking each other ; this 
ceasing, we again ventured to the margin of the 
river, and observing no person on or near the 
opposite shore, we boldly launched our bark, 
knowing that no parties but British would ven- 
ture to stay there long in broad day-light ; we 
crossed in safety, and soon reached the town of 
Bergen, where haiting a few minutes for refresh- 
ment, we proceeded to Pryor's Mills, near 
Pauls-hook, and were informed by the man of 
the house, that owing to fresh orders that had 
been given by Sir Henry Clinton, no person 
would be permitted to enter New-York by that 
post. Situated as I was, I determined to apply 
to the centinel ; he detained me and the pilots 
until his relief came, when I wrote a note to the 
commanding officer, who was fortunately colonel 
of the same regiment that Major Andre be- 
longed to. While detained here. Captain 
Moody came in with a captured mail of General 
Washington's dispatches ; and, soon after, a 
Serjeant and file arrived to carry us across the 
ferry. From my disguise, he would not believe 
me to be the person I avowed myself to be ; but 
as the mail was immediately to go to New-York, 
he promised to report me to the commander in 
chief : his secretary, however, gave rae direc- 
tions where to find my brother the chief-justice, 
he being intimate with the family; and, in a 
short time after, I was permitted to cross with 
Captain Moody, and was paraded before head- 
([uarters. My brother was a near neighbour to 
Sir Henry Clinton, and his servant, seeing me, 
fold my brother of my situation, who applied to 



APPENDIX. 1()5 

Sir Henry in my behalf, and took me, to my no 
small joy, to his house. 

Ill a few weeks after my arrival, to add to my 
wretchedness, my family, deprived of their all, 
were banished to New- York. I continued with 
my brother for several months, endeavouring to 
obtain some of my own houses, and others be- 
longing to the family estate, which Lieutenant- 
General Robertson, then being governor, put 
into my possession. I continued in the exercise 
of my profession, until the evacuation of New- 
York by the British troops, when, through the 
assistance of Sir Guy Carlton, now Lord Dor- 
cht'ster, I was enabled to obtain my passage to 
England in the Ann, transport, of Whitby, in 
Yorkshire, under convoy of the Guiana, fri- 
gate, (as appears from his lordship's order to 
Thomas Aston Coffin, Esq. the present commis- 
sary-general, then paymaster of contingencies at 
New-York, from the Audit-Office, Somerset 
Place,) and landed at Falmouth, in 2 1 days from 
New-York, which I left on the 5th of Nov. 1783. 
This ship returned a part of the first division of 
auxiliary troops, commanded by Col. Bezenrodt, 
who charged me with dispatches to the Right 
Hon. Lord North ; and, on my arrival in Lon^ 
don, I placed them in the hands of my friend 
and agent, Gray Elliott, Esq. then Keeper of 
Plantation Records, at Whitehall, who kindly 
procured accommodations for me in Surry- 
Street, in the Strand. 

I had nt>t long arrived, before I received an 
afflicting account of the death of my wife, who 
from the first shock, upon my being arrested by 
feVd^r of Washington, had been daily declining 



.66 APPENDIX. 

in health, which increased in consequence of 
my compulsive departure at the end of the war, 
and which terminated her existence on the 1st of 
January, 1784, with a truly broken heart ; leav- 
ing nie, her disconsolate survivor, with two help- 
less children, after an intercourse of ten years 
uninterrupted harmony — an exile, devoid of the 
soothing consolations of friendship. This last 
afflictive dispensation, added to the series of ca- 
lamities I had heretofore endured, prostrated 
all the barriers philosophy had raised ; melan- 
choly had enveloped my mind, and I was sinking 
in the glooms of despair, viewing- every object 
through the most appalling medium ; when, 
providentially, Sir ligerton Leigh, with whom 
I had the honour of an acquaintance in America, 
found my residence ; by his polite and friendly 
assiduities, I was roused from a stupor, that 
had, for the time, destroyed all rational reliec- 
tions. I was slowly recovering from this Ijane- 
ful reverie, when I was unexpectedly visited by 
General Arnold. The sudden intrusion of the 
man who had occasioned my miseries, excited 
sensations that I cannot describe, and which I 
leave to the suggestions of a candid world. ThQ 
reception which he experienced from me, (as 
publicly mentioned by Captain Roorback, of 
General Delancey's regiment of New-York 
Loyalists,) shortened the interview. 

As I have often mentioned this general, whosa 
conduct and character whilst the memory of tho 
American war exists, will be the subject of ani* 
madversion ; 1 will here relate some circum- 
stances in contradiction to the opinion generally 
entertained respecting him ; not tkat I mean to 



APPENDIX. m 

advocat.3 measures, which are alone justifiuble 
from the secret motives which influenced their 
operations ; but I wish that the candid reader 
may be enabled to form his own opinion from the 
contrast of the characters drawn. 

In one of my first interviews with General 
Arnold, he ludicrously mentioned that he had 
been stilcd by some of the American army a 
jocky and horse-dealer ; this he denied to have 
been his original profession ; but declared, he 
■was brought up to the business of an apothecary, 
which Old Thunder-Rod, as the Americans call 
Doctor Franklin, (who derived such merit from 
experiments in electricity, collected from the 
hints of the immortal Sir Isaac Newton,) avers 
to be the fact ; and that he was educated for the 
profession by Dr. Lothrop, of Connecticut, a 
gentleman of eminence, and estimable character ; 
who, for the fidelity the general displayed during 
his apprenticeship, retained him in his employ 
a considerable time afterwards, as a mark of his 
esteem ; and, in remuneration for his diligent 
services, gave him a reward of five hundred 
pounds sterling. Being of an active disposition, 
and detesting the langour of still life, he relin- 
quished tke business of an apothecary ; and, hav- 
ing acquired a competent knov.'ledge of naviga- 
tion, he embarked his property in the trade usu- 
ally carried on betv/een the continent and the 
West-Indian islands, reciprocally beneficial to 
each, with various loss and gain, until the dis- 
turbances between Great- Britain in 1774, when 
he stepped forward the champion of his country's 
r.ause ; and for the zeal he discovered for its 
r »r.perity, was appointed a coionel by the legis- 



168 APPENDIX. 

lature of that government. Political disputes in- 
creasing, daily afforded, on the appeal to arms 
as the arbiter, full exercise for the natural acti- 
vity of his disposiiion ; and early in the succeed- 
ing year, he commanded a detachment of militia, 
to prevent the irruptions of the Canadians and 
Savages on Lake Champlain. His indefatigable 
exertions secured his success ; in consideration 
of which Congress confirmed the appointment 
he received from the provincial authority. The 
intrepidity of his genius induced that body to in- 
vest him with the separate command of a corps 
of troops, amounting to twelve hundred choice 
men, with whom he was directed, on the 13th of 
November, 1775, to cross the Wilderness, from 
the camp at Cambridge, for the invasion of Can- 
ada ; and, notwithstanding the most fatiguing 
hardships, as I have already mentioned, he arriv- 
ed before the walls of Quebec on the 13th of 
Novenaber, regardless of the approaching in- 
clement season, and summoned the town to sur- 
render, with which it would certainly have com- 
plied, from the lukcwarmness of the Canadians 
in general, had not this requisition been incom- 
patible with the duty and invincible firmness o£ 
the brave and experienced officer who command- 
ed the garrison ; and on the junction of General 
Montgomery, on the 1 5th of December follow- 
ing, the siege was commenced with spirit, and 
subsequently Quebec was stormed ; the issue of 
which, from the gallant and judicious defence 
made by the besieged, is well known ; — Mont- 
gomery was killed — Arnold wounded, and most 
of ti)e besiegers made prisoners of war ; the cle- 
Bi^ncy tlvey recfivfid from Lord Dorcbt^sler— 



A.PP£5n)IX. 169 

the lenient treatment, and the affecting advice, 
(instead of warlike rigour) he administered to 
the prisoners, on dismisshig them peaceably to 
their respective homes, hud the most conciliating 
effect, at once coinciding with the humanity, as 
Avell as bravery, of their distinguished conqueror. 
On the march of General Montgomery to 
join General Arnold, or by the detachment un- 
der Colonel Ethan Allen, the unfortunate Major 
Andre was captured, and sent as a prisoner, with 
his brother-officers, through a large extent of the 
American continent, to Trenton, New- Jersey. 
I remember having seen him at the hospitable 
table of Colonel Hay, at Haverstraw, whose urba- 
nity was dispensed to all genteel travellers, but 
I did not recollecjt the leust trace of his counte- 
nance when I received him from the Vulture 
sloop of war. This event enabled him to form 
some idea of the genius, temper, and political 
disposition of the American people ; and it was 
in this situation that he made the reference to 
his amiable friend's picture, which he stiled his 
talisman. 

But I must return from this digression to the 
character of General Arnold, — He assured me 
he was descended from a gentleman of the same 
name, who was one of the first Governors of 
Khode Island, but his immediate progenitor, by 
occasion of many losses in trade, iailed, some 
time before his death, leaving the general to t!?e 
%vide world friendless and unprotected. Deter- 
mined to be they^/<^6r atut fortun,?^ he lost no op- 
portunity that offered ; and when they did not 
take notice of him, he courted them bv all hoti- 
P 



1/0 APPENDIX. 

est exertions to advance his fortunes, holding m 
view the poet's sentiment : 

Honour and fame from no condition rise. 
Act well your part — there all the honour lies. 

The iiiL^ratitude and injustice of his countrymen, 
and the illiberal treatment his lady received from 
Mr. Read, the Governor of Pennsylvania, were a- 
mong the reasons he assic^ned, in his declaration, 
for his defection, and which he deemed sufficient 
to alienate his attachment from a cause wherein 
the private interest of a few leading individuals 
seemed to him to be more the object con- 
templated, in protracting the v/ar, (after the o- 
verturesof the peace-commissioncrs of 1778 had 
done away all obstacles to a permanent re-union 
of the empire, upon the broad basis of recipro- 
cal benefits,) than the goodtof his fellow-citizens, 
whom he saw plunged into the most forlorn mis- 
ery* from which nothing but the relenting cle- 
mency and generosity of tlie British government 
could extricate them — and not the perfidious al- 
lurements of their impotent ally, who looked with 
a covetous eye to the re-possession of their for- 
mer^ territory in Canada, from which they were 
averted by the vigilance of Washington, who pe- 
netrated their designs, and wisely avoided mis- 
eries similar to those he experienced in Brad- 
dock's defeat. 

Mankind differ as much in their political as 
religious sentiments. It is a proof of an ingen- 
uous mind to retract from error, the moment it 
is discovered. These sentiments General Ar- 
nold avowed as tJie causo of his change of views, 



APPENDIX. iri: 

and not the auri sacri famcs^ with which, it is 
said. Doctor Franklin charged him ; — but he^ 
likewise, has met with his political enemies, who 
asserted that, with his coadjutor, Tom Paine, he 
disseminated those principles which deluged his 
country in blood. The philosopher, as well as 
the soldier, has paid the debt to Nature— -peace 
to their manes 1 Political prejudices are, of all 
others, the most difficult to be removed. There 
never was a contest that admitted more pretext 
for diversity of opinion : — General Arnold's con- 
duct is reprobated by some, and as strongly ad- 
vocated by others ; not standing upon the same- 
eminence of information, all men do not see with 
equal light ; — both friends and enemies, how- 
ever, concur in doing justice to General Arnold's 
merit, as a man of rare valour, and a gallant of- 
ficer. 

To delineate the character of the unfortunate 
Major Andre — to view him in the vivacity of his 
fancy, the elegance of his taste, or the powers of 
his mind, in ail the rich felicities of his genius, as 
a literary character, or his military capacity, in 
both maturing to the highest eclat, and to ren- 
der tributary justice to his worth, requires talents 
beyond common eulogy. The virtuous and libe- 
ral contempKite, with intellectual luxury, the me- 
ritorious dispositions of their fellow-citizens : the 
principles of benevolence they possessed, expand 
and elevate our ideas of the human character,-^ 
and while we analise their superior excellence, 
stimulate to copy their bright example, and di- 
rect our views to th« Author of all that is esti- 
injible in man. 

The portrait of Major Andre presents the im- 



^2 APPENDIX. 

age of his mind, and is the index of the goodness 
of his heart. To those who knew him, the ani- 
mation of his countenance, the impressive force 
of his genius, the gracefulness of his manner, the 
enlivening intelligence of his converse, is at once 
expressed and felt — he was rapid in his pene- 
tration, and expansive in his comprehension — 
his intellectual resources, from the clearness of 
his conception and arrangement, were promptly 
at command ; hence, with a natural desire to 
please, the attractions of his personal accom- 
plishments gave a zest and chaim to his conver- 
sation, and soon convened simple esteem into 
the dignity of friendship — urbanity, in its high- 
est extent, was a qualification of the least intrin- 
sic value he possessed — the scrupulous rectitude 
of his mind, the truth and inviolable integrity of 
iiis heart, invariably governed by reason, and sanc- 
tioned . by religion, regulated his principles of 
honour, and were conspicuous in the habits of his 
life — his social conviviality was uncontaminated 
by intemperance, and levity or indecorum at no 
time sullied his wit or gaiety — his extensive 
"knowledge of human nature, and command of 
fiiraself, qualified him as the soothing compan- 
ion of the afflicted, to be serious with the elder- 
ly, sprightly with the gay, and facetious with the 
juvenile — by his learning he softened the aus- 
terities of philosophy ; and his taste in selecting 
his amusements, gave an additional pleasure to 
their enjoyment — his beneficence was enhanced 
by the prompt anticipation of the favour he meant 
to confer ; and his denials were mitigated by a 
suavitv of manner, that almost seemed a com- 
pliance of favour — to him migjht justly be appli- 



APPENDIX. Its 

«d the reputation given of Agricola by Taoitus5-— . 

" Quicquid ex jigricola amavimus^ quic'juid mi- 
rati sumus, manet mansur unique est in a?iimis ho- 
minmn.''* 

Whatever in Andre was the object of our love 
and admiration, remains ; and will remain in the 
hearts of all who knew him. With such qu di- 
lications, added to the brilliancy of his miliury 
talents, which invited the esteem and pairon:;ge 
of Sir Henry Clinton, (whose happiness was ever 
to reward merit,) who could be surprised that his 
virtues, and the guUant spirit with which he ter- 
minated his career, should deserve the monu- 
ment erected to his memory — imperiously ex- 
tract the invoiunt.iry tear — and demand the 
panegyric of an enemy ? — Or even inspire the 
elegant pencil of England's favourite Muse, to 
celebrate the deathless name of a British officer, 
whose prowess and talents will live in the memo- 
ry of the brave, the generous, and the good, as 
long as the historic page shall record his unsul- 
lied fame ? 

Britons know how to judge, appreciate, and 
grant the laurelled meed, to decorate the brow of 
genuine worth ; nor will there ever be wanting 
among the gallant race those who will cherish 
the memory, imitate the virtues, and sprinkle 
with the tributary tear the ashes of departed mer- 
it.—" J^''on cancmiis surdis resfiondent et omni<s^ 
silvix." 

I shall finally conclude this narrative with the 
fbllov/ing documents, which will satisfy many 
individuals to vv^hom I am unknown, as to the 
sense which the Government at that time en- 
tertained of mv unmerited sufiering on their ac- 
P 3 



1^4 APPENDIX. 

count, and which will' also complete^ refute the 
gross calumny which, at the commencement of 
this volume, I quoted from a public magazine : 

Certificates by Order of the Honourable Board of 
Commissio7iersfor Auditirig Public Accounts. 

I hereby certify, that upon the examination 
of the vouchers belonging to the declared, 
account of Colonel Roger Morris, Inspec- 
tor of Claims of Refugees at New-York, it 
appears that Joshua H. Smith, Esq. was al- 
lowed a Dollar fier diein^ pursuant to the or- 
ders of their Excellencies Sir Heniy Clin- 
ton, K. B. and Sir Guy Carlton, K. B. 
commanders in chief in North America, in 
the years 1781, and 1782. 

J. L. MALLET, Sec, 
Audit 'Office, Somerset' 

Flace, Oct. 26, 1807. 

And it also appears in the declared account of 
Thomas Aston Coffin, Esq. as Paymaster 
of Contingencies at New- York and Halifax, 
from the 1st of February, 1763, to the 24th 
of April, 1784, that Joshua H. Smith, 
Esq. was allowed at the rate of Seven Shil- 
lings /zer dicin, from the 1st of January, to 
the 31st of March, 1783 ; and from thence 
to the o I St of December following ; which 
last payment was to enable him to return to, 
England, by order of the Commander in 
Chief, Sir Guy Carlton, K. B. 

J. L. MALLET, Sec. 
Audit 'Office^ Somerset- 

Place, Jan, 19, 18U8. 



A 

MONODY 

OJV THE DEATH OF 

MAJOR JOHN ANDRE, 

BY MISS SEWARD. 



TO 

HIS EXCELLEJSrCr 
SIR HENRY CLINTON, 

KNIGHT OF THE BATH. 



SiR 

WITH the zeal of a religious enthusiast to 
his murdered saint, the author of this mournful 
eulogium consecrates it to the memory of Major 
Andre, who fell a martyr in the cause of his 
king and country, with the firm intrepidity of a 
Roman, and the amiable resignation of a Chris- 
tian hero. 

Distant awe and reverence prevent her offering 
these effusions of gratitude to the beneficent and 
royal patron of the Andre family. May Mr. 
Andre's illustrious general, the guardian of his 
injured honour, his conspicuous and personal 
friend, deign to accept them from One who was 
once happy in the friendship of the gdorious 

SUFFERER. 

Your Excellency's 

most obedient humble servant. 
ANNA SEWARD. 



TO MISS SEWARD. 



IMPROMPTU. 



A.S Britain mourn'd, with all a mother's pain, 
Two sons, two gallant sons, ignobly slain ! \ 

Mild Cook, by savage fury robb'd of breath, 
And martial Andre doom'd to baser death I 
The Goddess, plung'din grief, too vast to speak, 
Hid in her robe her tear-disfigur'd cheek. 

The sacred Nine, with sympathetic care, 
Survey'd the noble mourner's dumb despair ; 
While from their choir the sighs of pity broke, 
The Muse of Elegy thus warmly spoke : 
" Take injur'd parent, all we can bestow, 
« To sooth thy heart, and mitigate thy woe !'* 

Speaking, to earth the kind enthusiast came. 
And veil'd her heavenly power with Seward's 

name : 
And that no vulgar eye might pierce the truth, 
Proclaim 'd herself the friend of Andre's youth. 
In that fair semblance, with such plaintive fire, 
She struck the chords of her pathetic lyre : 
The weeping Goddess owns the blest relief. 
And fondly listens, with subsiding grief ; 
Her loveliest daughters lend a willing ear. 
Honouring the latent Muse with many a tear. 
Her bravest sons ^ho in their every vein 
Feel the strong pathos of the magic strain, 
Biess the inchanting lyre, by glory strung, 
Envying the dead who are so sweetly sung. 

W. HAYLEV 



MONODY 

ON 
MAJOR JOHJ\r AJSTDRE 



X^OUD howls the storm I the vexM Atlantic 

roars 1 
Thy Genius, Britain, wanders on its shores ! 
Hears cries of horror wafied from afar, 
And groans of anguish, mid the shrieks of War I 
Hears the deep curses of the Great and Brave, 
Sigh in the wind, and murmur on the wave ! 
O'er his damp brow the sable crape he binds, 
And throws his * victor-garland to the winds ; 
Bids haggard Winter, in her drear sojourn, 
Tear the dim foliage from her drizzling urn ; 
With sickly yew unfragrant cypress twine. 
And hang the dusky wreath round Honour'? 

shrine. ^ 

Bids steel-clad Valour chace his dove-like Bride, * 
Enfeebling Mercy, from his awful side ; 
Where long she sat, and chcck'd the ardent rein. 
As whirl'd his chariot o'er th' embattled plain r 
Gilded with sunny smile her April tear, 
Rais'd her white arm and stay'd th' uplifted 

spear ; 

* Victor-garland^W\\^^in% to til's eonqu,^.»t by J-^ortl 



iSU MONODY ON TH£ 

Then, in her place, bids Vengeance mount thc^ 
car, I 

And glut with gore th' insatiate Dogs of War! — | 
With one pale hand the * bloody scroll he rcars^ 
And bids his Nations blot it with their tears ; 
And one, extended o*er th' Atlantic wave, 
Points to his Andre's ignominious grave I 

And shall the Muse, that marks the solemm 
scene, 
" As busy Fancy lifts the veil between," 
Refuse to mingle in the awful train, 
Nor breathe with glowing zeal the votive strain :i 
From public fame shall admiration fire 
The boldest numbers of her raptur'd lyre 
To hymn a Stranger ?— and with ardent lay 
Lead the wild Mourner round her C'ook's moral 
While Andre fades upon his dreary bier, 
And t Julia's only tribute is her tear ? 
Dear, lovely Youth ! whose gentle virtues stok 
Thro' Friendship's soft'ning medium on hei 

soul ! 
Ah no !— with every strong resistless plea. 
Rise the recorded days she passed with thee, 
While each dim shadow of o'erwhelming yeafsl 
With Eagle-glance reverted. Memory clears, i 

Belov'd Companion of the fairest hours 
That rose for her in Joy's resplendent bow'rs, 
How gaily shone on thy bright Morn of Youth 
i'ihe Star of Pleasure and the Sun of Truth I 

* Bleodii Scroll. — The Couit-Martial decree, sigiie 
Hi Tappan, fo)- Major Andre's execution. 

j- JttUa. — 'l'\:v r.iiTne by which Mr. Andre addvesiJfe 
tti.e Author, in iiis coiTespondence "with her. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. ISl 

Full from their source descended on thy mind 
Each generous virtue, and each taste refin'd. 
Young Genius led thee to his varied fane, 
Bade thee ask * all his gifts, nor ask in vain ; 
Hence novel thoughts, in ev'ry lustre drest 
Of pointed wit, that diamond of the breast ; 
Hence glow'd thy fancy with poetic ray, 
Hence music ^yarbled in thy sprightly lay ; 
And hence thy pencil, with his colours warm, 
Caught ev'ry grace, and copied ev'ry charm. 
Whose transient glories beam on Beauty's check? 
And bid the glowing Ivory breathe and speak. 
Blest pencil 1 by kind fate ordain 'd to save 
HoNORiA^s semblance from t her early grave. 
Oh ! while on | Julia's arm it sweetly smiles, 
And each lorn thought, each long regret beguiles, 
Fondly she weeps the liand, which form'd the spell, 
Now shroudless mould'rmg in its earthly cell ! 

* All his gifts. — Mr. Andre had conspicuous talents for 
I'oetry, Music, and Painting. The Newspapers mention- 
ed a satiric poem of his upon the Americans, which was 
supposed to have stimulated their barbarity towards him. 
Of his wit and vivacity, the letters subjoined to this work 
afford ample proof They were addressed to die author 
by Mr. Andre v.hen he was a youth of eighteen. 

f Early grave. — Miss Honora S- , to whom Mr. An- 
dre's attachment was of such singular constancy, died in 
a consumption a few months before he suifcreii deuth at 
Tappan. She had married another Gentleman four year^ 
after her engagement with IJr. Andre had been dissolve-.t 
hy parental authority. 

^ Julia's arm. — Mr. Andre drew two miniature pictures 

of Miss Honora S on his first acquaintance with her 

at Buxton, in the year 1769, one for hims:'.}ii the other for 
ihe author of this poem. 

Q 



;2 MONODY ON THK 

But sure the Youth, whose ill-staiT'd paasioft 
strove 
With all the pangs of inauspicious Love, 
Full oft' deplor'd the fatal Art, that stole 
The jocund freedom of its Master'j* soul ! 

r 

While with nice hand he markM the living grace, | 
And matchless sweetness of Honora's Face, 
Th' enamour'd Youth, the ftdthful traces blest, 
That barb'd the dart of Beauty in his breast ; 
Around his neck th' enchanting Portrait hung, 
While a warm vow burst ardent fromi his tongue. 
That from his bosom no succeeding day, [ 

No chance should bear that Talisman away. j 

■ i 
*Twas thus t Apelles bask'd in Beauty's blaze, I 
And felt the mischief of the stedfast gaze ; I 

Trac'd with disorder'd hand Campaspe's charms, i 
And as their beams the kindling Canvas warms, 
Triumphant Love, with still superior art. 
Engraves their wonders on the Painter's heart. 

Dear lost Companion ! ever constant Youth I 
That Pate had smil'd propitious on thy Truth ! 
Nor bound th' ensanguin'd laurel on that brow 
Where Love ordain'd his brightest wreatli to glow ! 
Tlien Peace had led thee to her softest bow'rs, 
And Hymen strew'd thy path with all his flow'rs ; 
Drav.n to thy roof, by Friendship's silver cord, ^ 
Kuch social Joy bad brighten'd at thy board ; 
r:ience, and soft A Section's blended rays 
lad shone unclouded on thy lengthen'd days j 

■j- *Tii)as thus JljjeUes. '—Vvior is very elegant upon this- 
circun.stance in un Ode to his friend Mr.* Howard, the. 

J dr.ter- ■ . 



DEATH or MAJOR ANDRE. 183 

From hour to hour thy taste, with conscious pride. 
Had markM new talents in thy lovely Bride ; 
Till thou had'st owned the magic of her face 
Thy fair Honora's least engaging grace. 
Dear lost Honora ! o'er thy early bier 
Sorrowing the Muse still sheds her sacred tear ! 
The blushing Rose-bud in its vernal bed, 
By Zephyrs fann*d, by glist'ring Dew-drops fed- 
In June's gay morn that scents the ambient air, 
Was not more sweet, more innocent, or fair. 
Oh ! when such pairs their kindred Spirit find. 
When Sense and Virtue deck each spotless Mind. 
Hard is the doom that shall the union break, 
And Fate's dark billow rises o'er the wreck. 

Now Prudence, in her cold and thrifty car6, 
Frown'd on the Maid, and bade the Youth despair ; 
For Pow'r Parental sternly saw, and strove 
To tear the lilly-hands of plighted Love ; 
Nor strove in vain ; — but while the Fair-One's 

sighs 
Disperse, like April storms in sunny skies, 
The firmer Lover, with unswerving truth, 
To his first passion consecrates his Youth ; 
T ho' four long years a night of absence prove, 
Yet Hope's soft Star shone trembling on his Love , 
Till t hov'ring Rumour chas'd the pleasing dream 
, And vcird with Raven-wing the silver beam. 

" Ho NOR A lost I my happy rival's Bride ! 
Swell ye full Sails I and roll thou mighty Tide I 



t Hov*ving Runmir. — The tidings of Hbnora's marriage. 
Upon that event Mr. Andre quitted his profession as a 
merchant, and joined our arnny in America. 



184 M0N013Y ON TH£ 

0*er the dark Waves forsaken Andre bear 

Amid the volleying Thunders of the War 1 

To win bright Glory from my Country's Foes, 

E'en in this ice of Love, my bosom glows. 

Voluptuous London ! in whose gorgeous bow'rs 

The frolic Pleasures lead the dancing Hours, 

From Orient-vales Sabean-odours bring, 

Nor ask her roses of the tardy Spring ; 

Where Painting burns the Grecian Meed to claim, 

From the high Temple of immortal Fame, 

Bears to the radiant Goal, with ardent pace, 

Her Kauffman's Beauty, and her Reynold's grace ; 

Where IViusic floats the giitt'ring roofs among, 

And with meand'ring cadence swells the song, 

While Sun-clad Poesy the Bard inspires, 

And foils the Grecian Harps, the Latian Lyres.— 

" Ye solt'ning Luxuries ! ye polish'd Arts ! 
Bend your enfeebling rays on tranquil hearts I 
I quit the Song, the Pencil, and the Lyre, 
White robes of Peace, and Pleasure's soft attire, 
To seize the sword, to mount the rapid car, 
In all the proud habiliments of War. — 
HoNORA lost ! I woo a sterner Bride, 
The arm'd Bellona calls me to her side ; 
Harsh is the music of our marriage strain I 
It breathes in thunder from the western plain I 
Wide o'er the wat'ry world its echoes roll, 
And rouse each latent ardor of my soul. j| 

And tho' unlike the soft melodious lay, 
That gaily wak'd Honora's nuptial day, 
Its deeper tones shall whisper, e'er they cease, 
More genuine transport, and more lasting peace I 

" Resolv'd I go 1 nor from that fatal bourn 
To these gay scenes shall Andre's step return ! 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 18o 

Set is the star of Love, that ought to guide 

His refluent Bark, across the mighty Tide ! 

liut while my Countiy's Foes, with impious liand, 

Hurl o'er tlic blasted plains the livid brand 

Of dire Sedition 1 Oh ! let Heav'n ordain 

While Andre lives, he may not live in vain ! 

" Yet without one kind farewelli cou'd I roam 
Far from my weeping Friends, my peaceful home, 
The best affections of my heart must cease. 
And gratitude be lost, with hope, and peace ? 

" My lovely Sisters ! who were wont to twine 
Your soul's soft feeling with each wish of mine. 
Shall, when this breast beats high at Glory's call, 
From your mild eyes the show'rs of sorrow fall ? — 
The light of Excellence, that round you glows, 
Decks with reflected beam your Brother's brows I 
Oh ! may his Fame, in some distinguish'd day, 
Pour on that Excellence the brightest ray ! 

" Dim clouds of Woe ! ye veil each sprightly 
grace 

That us'd to sparkle in Maria's face. 

^ly t tuneful Anna to her lute complains, 

But Grief's fond throbs arrest the parting strains. 

Fair as the silver blossom on the thorn, 
t as the spirit of the vernal morn, 
uisA, chase those trembling fears, that prove 

Th' ungovern'd terrors of a Sister's love. 

They bend thy sweet head, like yon lucid flow'r, 

That shrinks and fades beneath the summer's sho w*r, 

t Tiuie^fnl Anna,--'Mi%s Anna Andre has a poetical tal- 
ent. 

Q2 



186 MONODY ON THE 

" Oh I smile, my Sisters, on this destined day, 
And with the radiant omen gild my way ! 
And thou, my Brother, gentle as the gale, 
Whose breath perfumes anew the blossomM vale, 
Yet quick of spirit, as th' electric beam, 
When from the clouds its darting lightnings stream, 
Soothe with incessant care our Mother's woes, 
And hush her anxious sighs to soft repose. 
And be ye sure, when distant far I stray 
To share the dangers of the arduous day, 
Your tender faithful amity shall rest 
The * last deai' record of my grateful breast. 

" Oh ! graceful Priestess at the fane of Truth, 
Friend of my soul ! and guardian of my youth ! 
Skill'd to convert the duty to the choice, 
My gentle Mother I in whose melting voice 
The virtuous precept, that perpetual flow'd, 
With Music warbled, and with Beauty glow'd. 
Thy tears !— ah Heav'n ! not drops of molten lead, 
Pour'd on thy hapless Son's devoted head. 
With keener smart had each sensation torn ! 
They wake the nerve where agonies are born ! 
But oh ! restrain me not ! — thy tender strife, 
AVhat wou'd it save ? — alas ! thy Andre's life I ^ 
Oh ! what a weary pilgrimage 'twill prove 
Strew'd with the therns of disappointed love ! 
Ne'er can he break the charm, whose fond c^k|^ 
troal, ^F 

* Znst dear record — *' 1 hfivc a Mother, and three Sis- 
ters, to whom the value of my commission would be an 
object, as the loss of Grenada has much affected their in- 
com.e. It is needless to be more explicit on tliis subject;, 
1 know your Excellency's goodness." — See Mnjor Andro'^- 
lastletier to General Ciinton, published in 'ho Ga7'!t''"\ 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 18f 

i5y habit rooted, lords it o'er his soul, 

If here he lane^uish in inglorious ease, 

Where Science palls, and Pleasures cease to please. 

'Tis Glory only, with her potent ray, 

Can chase the clouds that darken all his way. 

Then dry those pearly drops that wildly flow, 

Nor snatch the laurel from my youthful brow I 

The Rebel-Standard blazes to the noon ? 

And Glory's path is bright before thy Son 1 

Then join thy voice I and thou with Heav'n ordain 

While Andre lives, he may not live in vain ! '* 

He says '.—and sighing seeks the busy strand, 
Where anchored Navies wait the wish'd command, 
To the full gale the nearer billows roar. 
And proudly lash the circumscribing shore ; 
While furious on the craggy coast they rave, 
All calm and lovely rolls the distant wave ; 
For onward, as th' unbounded waters spread, 
Deep sink the rocks in their capacious bed. 
And all their pointed terrors utmost force. 
But gently interrupts the billow's course. 

So on his present hour rude Passion preys I 
So smooth the prospect of his future days I 
Unconcious of the storm, that grimly sleeps, 
To wreck its fury on th' unshelter'd deeps i 

I 

^ Now yielding waves divide before the prowj 
The white sails bend> the streaming pennants glow j 
And swiftly waft him to the western plain, 
Where fierce Bellona rages o'er the slain. 

Firm in their strength opposing legions standj 
Frepar'd to drench with blood the thirsty land. 



IBS MONODY ON THE 

Now Carnage hurls her flaming bolts afar, - 
And Desolation groans amid the war. 
As bleed the valiant, and the mighty yield, 
Death stalks, the only victor o'er the field. 

Foremost in all the horrors of the day, 
Impetuous f Andre leads the glorious way ; 
Till, rashly bold, by numbers forc'd to yield, 
They drag him captive from the long-fought field. 
Around the Hero croud th* exulting bands, 
And seize the spoils of war with bloody hands ; 
Snatch the dark plumage from his awful crest, 
And tear the golden crescent from his breast ; 
The sword, the tube, that wings the death from far, 
And all the fatal implements of war I ' 

Silent, unmov'd the gallant Youth surveyM 
The lavish spoils triumphant ruffians made. 
The idle ornament, the useless spear. 
He little recks, but oh ! there is a fear 
Pants with quick throb, while yearning sorrows dart 
Thro* his chill frame, and tremble at his heart. 

" What tho' Honor a's voice no more shall charm I 
No more her beamy smile my bosom warm ! *v>, 

Yet from these eyes shall force for ever tear 
The sacred Image of that form so dear ? — 
Shade | of my Love 1 tho' mute and cold thy charmaHf 
Ne'er hast thou blest my happy rival's arms ? 

f ImpetuGUs Arcdre — It is in this passage only that fiction 
has been employed through tlie narrative of the poem. 
Mr. Andre was a prisoner ia America, soon after his ar- 
rival there, but the author is unacquainted with the cir- 
cumstances of the action in whicli he was taken. 

t Shade of m^ Love. — The miniature of Honora. A let- 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 189 

To my sad heart each dawn has seen thee prest ! 
Each night has lav] thee pillow'd on my breast 1 
Force shall not tear thee from thy faithful shrine ; 
Shade of my Love I thou shalt be ever mine ! 

" 'Tis fix'd !— these lips shall resolute inclose 
The precious soother of my ceaseless woes. 
And sliou'd relentless Violence invade 
This last retreat, by fi-antic fondness made, 
One way remains I— Fate whispers to my soul 
Intrepid f Portia and her burning coal ! 
So shall the throbbing inmate of my breast 
From Love's sole gift meet everlasting rest !" 

While these sad thoughts in swift succession fire 
The smother'd embers of each fond desire, 
Quick to his mouth his eager hand removes 
The beauteous semblance of the form he love?. 
That darling treasure safe, resigned he wears 
The sordid robe, the scanty viand shares ; 
With cheerful fortitude content to wait 
The barter'd ransom of a kinder fate. 



terfrem Major Andre to one of his frends, written a few- 
years ago, contained the follow sentence. " I have been 
taken prisoner by the Americans, and stript of every thing 
except tlie picture of Honora, which I concealed in mv 
B^jUth. Preserving that, I yet think myself fortunate." " 

f Intrepid Partial^ — "Brutus. Impatient ofmyabsence, 
And grieved vhat young Octavius, with Mark Anthony 
Had made themsehes so strong, she grew distracted. 
And, her Attendants absent, swallow'd fire." 

" Cassius ] And dy'd so i" 

"Brutus] Even so !': 
See Shakespeare's Play of Julius Ctesar^Mi iv.Sc.iy. 



190 MONODY ON THE 

Now many a Moon in her pale course had shed 
The pensive bean\ on Andre's captive head. 
At length the Sun rose jocund, to adorn 
With all his splendor the enfranchis'd morn. 
Again the Hero joins the ardent train 
That pours its thousands on the tented plain ; 
And shines distinguish'd in the long array, 
Bright as the silver star that leads the day ! 
His modest temperance, his wakeful heed, 
His silent diligence, his ardent speed, 
Each warrir r-duty to the veteran taught, 
Shaming the vain experience time had brought, i 
Dependance scarcely feels his gentle sway, ' 

He shares each want, and smiles each grief away ? 
And to the virtues of a noble heart, 
Unites the talents of inventive art. 
Thus from his swift and faithful pencil flow 
The Lines, the Camp, the Fortress of the Foe : 
Serene to counteract each deep design, 
Points the dark ambush, and the springing mine ;; 
Till, 'as a breathing incense, Andre's name 
Pervades the host, and swells the loud acclaim. 

The Chief no virtue views with cold regard, 
Skill'd to discern, and generous to reward ; 
Each tow'ring hope his honor'd smiles impart, 
As near his person and more near his heart 
The graceful youth he draws— and round his brow 
Bids Rank and Pow*r their mingled briiliance 
throw. 

Oh ! hast thou seen a blooming morn of May 
In crystal beauty shed the modest ray, 
And with its balmy dews refreshing show'r 
Swell the young grain, and ope the purple flowV. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 191 

In bright'ning lustre reach its radiant noon, 
Rob*d in the gayest mantle of the Sun ? 
Then 'mid the splendors of its azure skies, 
Oh I hast thou seen the cruel storm arise, 
In sable horror shroud each dazzling charm, 
And dash their glories back with icy arm ? 

Thus lowr'd the deathful cloud amid the blaze 
Of Andre's rising hopes — and quench'd their rays 1 
Ah fatal Embassy ! — thy hazards dire 
His kindling soul with ev'ry ardor fire ; 
Great Clinton gives it to the courage prov'd, 
And the known wisdom of the friend he lov'd. 

As fair Euryalus, to meet his fiite, 
With Nysus rushes fron) the Dardan gate, 
Relentless fate ! whose fury scorns to spare 
The snowy breast, red lip, and shining hair, 
So polish'd Andre launches on the waves, 
Where f Hudson's tide its dreary confines laves. 
With firm intrepid foot the youth explores 
Each fcbngerous pathway of the hostile shores ; 
But on no V^eteran-Chief his step attends, 
As silent round the gloomy wood he wends ; 
Alone he meets the brave rapentani foe, 
Sustains his late resolve, receives his vow, 
With ardent skill directs the doubtful course, 
Seals the firm bond, and ratines its force. 

'Tis thus America, thy Generals fly. 
And wave new banners in their native sky ! 

■\ Ifudson's tide. — !Mujor Andre came up the Iladson riv 
ev to meet General Arnold, Oa liis return by land' 
fell into the hands of the encmv. 



192 MONODY ON TITE 

Sick of the mischiefs artful Gallia pours., 
In friendly semblance on thy ravag'd shores. 
Unnatural compact I — shall a race of slaves 
Sustain the ponderous standard freedom waves I 
No ! while their feign'd protection spreads the 

toils, 
The Vultures hover o*er the destined spoils ! 
How fade Provincial -glories, while ye run 
To court far deeper bondage than ye shun I 
Is this the generous active rising flame, 
That boasted Liberty's immortal name, 
Blaz'd for its rights infringed, its trophies torn. 
And taught the Wise the dire mistake to moun _, 
When haughty Britain, in a luckless hour, 
With rage inebriate, and the lust of pow'r. 
To fruitless conquests, and to countless graves 
Led her gay Legions o'er the western waves ? 
The Fiend of Discord, cow'ring at the prowj 
Sat darkly smiling at th' impending woe ! 

Long did my soul the wrenched strife survey, 
And wept the horrors of the deathful day ; 
Thro' rolling years saw undecisive war 
Drag bleeding Wisdom at his iron car: 
Exhaust my country's treasure, pour her gore 
In fruitless conflict on the distant shore ; 
Saw the firm Congress all her might oppose, 
And while I mourn'd her fate, rever'd her foes, 

But when, repentent of her prouder aim, 
She gently waves the long disputed claim ; 
Extends the Charter with your Rights restor'd, 
And hides in olive-wreaths the blood-stain 'd sword ; 
Then to reject her peaceful wreaths, and throw 
Your Country's Freedom to our mutual Foe ! 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. li>i 

Infatuate land ? — from that detested day- 
Distracted councils, and the thirst of sway, 
Rapacious Avarice, Superstition vile, 
And all the Frenchman dictates in his guile 
Disgrace your Congress ! — Justice drops hci 

scale I 
And radiant Liberty averts her sail ! 
They fly indignant the polluted plain, 
Where truth is scorn'd, and Mercy pleads in vain. 



That she does plead in vain, thy witness bear, 
Accursed hour ? — thou darkest of the year ! 
That with Misfortune's deadliest venom fraught, 
To Tappan's v/all the gallant Andre brought. 



Oh Washington ! I thought thee great and 
good, 
Nor knew thy Nero-thirst of guiltless blood I 
Severe to use the pow'r that Fortune gave, 
Thou cool determin'd Murderer of the Brave I 
Lost to each fairer virtue, that inspires 
The genuine fervor of the Patriot fires 1 
And You, the base Abettors of the doom, 
That sunk his blooming honours in the tomb, 
Th' opprobrious tomb your harden'd hearts de- 
creed, 
While all he ask'd was as the brave to bleed ; 
Nor other boon the glorious Youth implor'd 
Save tlie cold mercy of the warrior-sword ! 
O dark, and pitiless ? your impious hate 
Q'erwhehi^'d the Hero in the Rufhan's fitc ! 
R 



191 MONODY ON THE 

Stopt with the t Feloncord the rosy breath ! 
And vcnom'd with disgrace the darts of death 1 

Remorseless Washington 1 the day shall come ; 
,Of deep repentance for this bar'brous doom ! i 
When injur'd Andrews memory shall inspire 
, A kindling army with resistless fire ; , 

Each falchoin sharpens that the Britons wield. 
And lead their fiercest Lion to the field ! 
Then, when each hope of thine shall set in night, 
When dubious dread and unavailing flight 
Impel your host, thy guilt upbraided soul 
Shall wish untouch'd the sacred life you stole ! 
And when thy heart appall'd, and vanquish*d pride, 
Shall vainly ask the mercy they deny'd, 
With horror shalt thou meet the fate they gave. 
Nor Pity gild the darkness of thy grave ! 
For Infamy, with livid hand shall shed 
Eternal mildew on thy ruthless head ! 

} 

I^ess cruel far than thou, on Ilium's plain, <• 
Achilles, raging for Patroclus slain ! 
When hapless Priam bends the aged knee, 
To deprecate the victor's dire decree, 
The nobler Greek, in melting pity spares 
The lifeless Hector to his Father's pray'rs, 
Fierce as he was ; — 'tis Cowards only know 
Persisting vengeance o'er Si fallen foe. 

■j- Feloncord — " As I suffer in the defence of mycointiy, 

T must consider this hour as the most gioi'ious of my lifef. 

Hemeraber that I die y.s becomes a Bi-itish Oiacer; while 

' iie maimer of my death must reflect disgrace on your 

.'oi'T'imander." '> 

Sec Major Andrft's last Nvords, inserted in the General 
Evsninc Postj ilor TuesfU'.r, Novembert.be 14tb, 1780. 



DEATH OF MAJOR ANDRE. 195 

But no entreaty wakes the soft reiTiorse, 
Oh murdered Andre ! for thy sacred corse ; 
Vain were an army's, vain its I^eader's sighs ! — 
Damp in the earth on Hudson's shore it lies ! 
Unshroudcd welters in the wint'ry storm, 
And gluts the riot of the f Tappan worm ! 
But Oh 1 its dust, like Abel's blood, shall rise, 
And call for justice from the angry skies I 

What tho' the Tyrants, with malignant pride, 
To thy pale corse each decent rite denyM i 
Thy graceful limbs in no kind covert laid, 
Nor with the Christian Requium sooth 'd thy shade ! 
Yet on thy grass-green bier soft April show'rs ! 
Shall earliest wake the sweet spontaneous flow'rs I 
Bid the blue hare-bell, and the snow-drop there 
Hang their cold cup, and drop the pearly tear 1 
And oft at pensive Eve's ambiguous gloom, 
Imperial Honour, bending o'er thy tomb, 
With solemn strain shall lull thy deep repose, 
And with his deathless laurels shade thy brows I 

Lamented Youth ! while with inverted spear 
The British legions pour th' indignant tear ! 
Round the dropt arm the f funeral-scarf entwine, 
And in their hearts' deep core thy worth enshrine j 
While my weak Muse, in fond attempt and vain, 
But feebly pours a perishable strain. 



I Tappan — The place where Major Andre was executed. 

f jPK.'icr'«/-.?ci7;;/"—0'jr whole army in America went into 
moiirnin* for Major Andre, a distinguished tribute to l'-'- 
merit. 



196 MONODY, kc. 

Oh ? ye distinguish'd few, whose glowm^* lays 
Bright Phoebus kindles with his purest rays, 
Snatch from its radiant source the living fire, 
And light with t Vestal flame your ANDRE'S 
HALLOWED PYRE! 



\ Vestal flame. — The Vestal fire was kept perpetually 
burning-, and originally kindled from the rays df the sun. ; 



1. E T 1' E 11 S 

ADDRESSED TO 

Tim AUTHOR OF THE FOREGOJjYG POEM, 

BY 

MAJOR ANDRE, 

WHEN HE WAS A YOUTH OF EIGHTEEN. 



> 



ff^- 



LETTERS 

OF 

MAJOR JOHK AN'DRE. 

LETTER I. 

Clapton, Oct. 2s ^769- 

X? ROM their agreeable excursion to Shrews!)ii- 
ry, my dearest friends are by this time returned to 
their thrice beloved Lichfield ; once a^^ain have they 
beheld those fortunate spires, the constant v/itness- 
es of all iheir pains and pleasures. 1 can well 
conceive the emotions of joy which their first ap- 
pearance, from the neighbouring hills, excites af- 
ter absence ; they seem to welcome you home, 
and invite you to reiterate those hours of happi- 
ness, of which they are a species of monument. I 
shaiJ have an eternal love and reverence for them. 
Never shall I forget the joy that danced in Ilonora's 
eyes, when she first shewed them to me from Need- 
wood Forest on our return with you from Buxton 
to Lichf:eld. I remember she called them the 
iadies of the T;ff//ct/— their lightness and elegance de- 
serve the title. Oh 1 how I loved them from that di- 
stant 1 My enthusiasm concerning them is carried 
farther even than your's and Ilonora'sj for every 



300 LETTERS OF 

object that has a pyramidal form, recals them to 
my recollection, with a sensation, that brings the 
tear of pleasure into my eyes. 

How happy must you have been at Shrewsbury t 
only that you tell me, alas I that dear Honora was 
not so well as you wished during your stay there. — 
I always hope the best. My impatient spirit re- 
jects every obtruding idea, which I have not forti- 
tude to support. Doctor Darwin's skill, and your 
tender care will remove that sad pain in her side, 
which makes writing troublesome and injurious 
to her ; which robs her poor * Cher Jean of those 
precious pages, with which, he flatters himself, she 
would otherwise have indulged him. 

So your happiness at Shrewsbury scorned to be 
indebted to public amusements- -Five Virgins- 
united in the soft bonds of friendship ! How I 
should have liked to have made the sixth ! But you 
surprize me by such an absolute exclusion of the 
Beaux ; I certainly thought that when five wise vir- 
gins were watching at midnight, it must have been 
in expectation of the bridegroom's coming. IVe 
are at this instant five virgins, writing round the 
same table — my three sisters, Mr. Ewer, and my 
self I beg no reflections injurious to the honoi:. 
of poor C7icr Jean. My mother is gone to pay a 
visit, and has left us in possession of the old coach ; 
but as for nags, we can boast of only two long-tails, 
and my sisters say they are sorry cattle, being no 

* A name of kindness, by which Mr. Andre was ofte:: 
oalied by his mother and sisters, and generally adopted bj 
i\\^ persons meritioned in these letters? 



^lAJOR JOHN ANDRE. 201 

other thaji my friend Ewer and myself, who, to say 
truth, have enormous pig-tails. 

My dear Boissier is come to town ; he has 
brought a little of the soldier with him, but he is 
the same honest, warm, intelligent friend I always 
found him. He sacrifices the town diversions, 
smce I will n»t partake «f them. 

We are jealous of your correspondents, who are 
so numerous. Yet, write to the Andres often, my 
dear Julia, for who are they that will value your 
letters quite so much as we value them ?— The 
least scrap of a letter will be received with the 
greatest joy ; write therefore, tho' it were only to 
give us the comfort of having a piece of paper 
which has recently passed thro' your hands ; Hono- 
ra will put in a little postcript, were it only to tel!^ 
me that she is imj -very sincere friend, who will nei- 
ther give me love nor comfort — very short indeed, 

Honora, was thy last postcript I But I am too 

presumptuous ; I will not scratch out, but 1 wnsay ; 
from the little there ivas I received more joy than 
I deserve. — I'his Cher Jean is an impertinent fel- 
low, but he will grow discreet in time ; you must 
consider him as a poor novice of eighteeii, who for 
all the sins he may commit, is sufficiently punish- 
ed in the single evil of being 120 miles from Lich- 
field. 

My mother and sisters will go to Putney in a few- 
days to stay some time ; we none of us like Clap- 
ton ; / need not care, for I am all di\y long in town ; 
but it is avoiding Scylla to fdl into Charybdis. 



202 LETTERS OF 

You paint to me the pleasant vale of Slow in the 
richest autumnal colouring : in return I must tell 
you, that my zephyrs are wafted throug-h cracks in 
the wainscot ; for 'murmuring streams I have dirty 
kenneis ; for bleating flocks, grunting pigs ; and 
squalling cats for birds that incessantly warble ; I 
have said something of this sort in my letter to 
Miss Spearman, and am twinged with the idea of 
these epistles being confronted, and that I shall 
recal to your m.emory the fat Knight's love lettere 
to Mrs. Foi-d and Mrs. Page. 

Julia, perhaps thou fanciest I am merry— Alas t 
—But I do not wish to make you as doleful as my- 
self; and besides, when 1 would express the ten- 
der feelings of my soul, I have no language which 
does them any justice ; if I had, I should regret 
that you could not have it fresher, and that whate- 
ver one communicates by letter must go such a 
round-about way, before it reaches one's corres- 
pondent ; from the writer's heart thro' his head, 
arm, hand, pen, ink, paper, over many a weary hill 
and dale, to the eye, head, and heart of the reader. 
1 have often regretted our not possessing a sort of 
faculty which should enable our sensations, re- 
marks. Sec. to arise from their source in a sort of 
exhalation, and fall upon our paper in words and 
phrases properly adapted to express them, without 
passing through an imagination whose operations 
so often fail to second those of the heart. Then 
what a metamorphose should we see in people's 
stile ! How eloquent those who are truly attach- 
ed ! how stupid ihey who falsely profess affection ! 
Perhaps the former had never been able to express 



MAJOR JOHN ANDRE. 203 

half their regard ; while the latter, by their flowers 
of rhetoric, had made us believe a thousand times 
more than they ever felt— but this is whimsical mo- 
ralizing. 

My sisters Penserosos were dispersed on their 
arrival in town, by the joy of seeing Louisa and 
their dear little brother Billy again, our kind and ex- 
cellent uncle Giradot, and uncle Lewis Andre. I 
was glad to see them» but they complained, not with- 
out reason, of the gloom ui)on my counienance— < 
Billy wept for joy that we were returned, while poor 
Cher Jean was ready to weep for sorrow; Louisa 
is grown still handsomer since we left her. Our 
sisters, Mary and Anne, knowing your partiality 
to beauty, are afraid that when they shall introduce 
her to you, she will put their noses out of joint. 
Billy is not old enough for me to be afraid of in the 
rival- way, else I should keep him aloof, for his 
heart is formed of those affectionate materials, so 
dear to the ingeniuous taste of Julia and her Ho- 
nora. 

I sympathize in your resentment against the ca- 
nonical Dons, vvlio stumpify the heads of those good 
green j people, beneath whose friendly shade so ma- 
ny of your happiest hours ha^e glided away : but 
they defy them : let them stumpify as much as 
they please, time will repair the mischief— their 
verdant arms will again extend, and invite you to 
their shelter. 

The evenings grow long ; I hope your conver- 
■^ The trees ia the Cathedrrd walk in Lichfield. 



J04 LETTERS OF 

sation round the fire will sometimes fall on the An- 
dres ; it will be a great comfort that they are i-e- 
membered. We chink our glasses to your healths | 
at every meal ; here's to our Lichfieldian friends, ,! 
says Nanny ;— Oh-h, says Mary ;~with all my soul, , 
say I ;— Alions, cries my mother ; — and the draught 
seems nectar. The libation made, we begin our 
uncloying theme, and so beguile the gloomy even- 
ing. 

Mr. and Mrs. Seward will accept my most af- 
fectionate respects. My male friend at Lichfield 
will join in your conversation on the Andres. A- 
mong the numerous good qualities he is possessed 
of, he certainly has gratitude, and then he cannot 
forget those who so sincerely love and esteem 
him ; I, in particular, shall always recall with plea- 
sure the happy hours I have passed in his compa- 
ny ; my friendship for him, and for your family, 
has diffused itself, like the precious ointment from 
Aaron's beard, on every thing which surrounds you, 
therefore 1 beg you would give my amities to tlie 
whole town. Persuade Honora to forgive the 
length and ardor of the inclosed, and believe me 
*ruly, 

Your affectionate and faithful friend, 

J. ANDRE. 



MAJOR JOHN ANDRE. 205 



LETTER II. 

London, October 19, 1769. 

X? ROM the midst of books, papers, bills, and 
other implements of gain, let me lift up my drow- 
sy head a while to converse with dear Julia. And 
first, as I know she has a fervent wish to sec me a 
quill-driver, I must tell her, that 1 begin, as peo- 
ple are wont to do, to look upon my future profes- 
sion with great partiality. I no longer see it in so 
disadvantageous a light. Instead of figuring a 
merchant as a middle-aged man, with a bob wig, a 
rough beard, in snuff coloured clothes, grasping a 
guinea in his red hand ; 1 conceive a comely young 
man, with a tolerable pig-tail, wielding a pen with 
all the noble fierceness of the Duke of Marlbo- 
rough brandishing a truncheon upon a sign-post, 
surrounded with types and emblems, and canopied 
with cornucopiaes that disembogue their stores upon 
his head ; Mercuries reclin'd upon bales of goods ; 
Genii playing with pens, ink, and paper ; v/hile in 
perspective, his gorgeous vessels " launched on the 
bosom of the silver Thames,'* are wafting to dis- 
tant lands the produce of this commercial nation. 
Thus all the mercantile glories croud on my fancy, 
emblazoned in the most refulgent colouring of ar> 
ardent imagination ; borne on her soaring pinions 
I wing my flight to the time when Heaven shall 
have crowned my labours with success and opu- 
S 



206 LETTERS OF 

lence. I see sumptuous palaces rising to receive 
me ; I see orphans, and widows, and painters, and 
fidlers, and poets, and builders, protected and en- 
couraged ; and when the fabrick is pretty nearly 
Snished by ray shattered Pericranium, I cast my 
eyes around, and find John Andre, by a small coal 
fire, in a gloomy compting-house in Warnford 
Court, nothing so little as what he has been mak- 
ing himself, and in all probability never to be much 
more than he is at present. But oh ! my dear Ho- 
nora I — it is for thy sake only I wish for v/ealth. 
You say she was somewhat better at the time you 
wrote last. I must flatter myself that she will soon 
be without any remains of this threatening disease. 

It is seven o'clock. — You and Honora, with two 
or three more select friends, are now probably en- 
circling your dressing-room fire-place. What 
would I not give to enlarge that circle 1 The idea 
of a clean hearth, and a snug circle round it, form- 
ed by a few sincere friends, transports me. You 
seem combined together against the inclemency of 
the v/eather, the hurry, bustle, ceremony, censo- 
riousness, and envy of the world. The purity, the 
wannth, the kindly influence of fire, to all for whom 
it is kindled, is a good emblem of the friendship 
of such amiable minds as Julia's and her Honora's. 
Since I cannot be there in reality, pray imagine me 
with you ; admit me to your conversations ; think 
how I wish for the blessing of joining them ! and 
be persuaded that I take part in all your pleasures, 
in the dear hope, that e'er it be very long, youp 
blazing hearth will burn again forme. Pray keep 
me a place j let the poker, tongs, or shovel? re- 



MAJOR JOHN ANDRE. 207 

present me : but you have Dutch-tiles, which are 
infinitely better ; so let Moses, or Aaron, or Ba- 
laam's ass be my representive. 

But time calls me to Clapton. I quit you abrupt- 
ly till to-morrow ; when, if I do not tear the non- 
sense I have been writing, I may perhaps increase 
its quantity. Signora Cynthii. is in clouded majes- 
ty. Silvered with her beams I am about to jog to 
Clapton upon my own stumps ; musing as I home- 
ward plod my way — Ah 1 need I name the subject 
of my contemplations ? 

Thursday, 
I had a sweet walk home last night, and found 
the Claptonians, with their fair guest, a Miss 
Mourgue, very well. My sisters send their ami- 
ties, and will write in a few days. 

This morning; I returned to town ; it has been 
the finest day imaginable ; a solemn mildness was 
diffused throughout the blue horizon ; its light was 
clear and distinct rather than dazzling ; the serene 
beams of the autumnal sun !— Gilded hills, varie- 
gated woods, glittering spires, ruminating herds, 
bounding flocks, all combined to inchant the eyes, 
expand the heart, and " chace all sorrow but des- 
pair."— In the midst of such a scene, no lesser 
grief can prevent our sympathy with nature ; a 
calmness, a benevolent disposition seizes us with 
sweet insinuating power. The very brute creation 
seem sensible of these beauties ; there is a species 
of mild cheerfulness in the face of a lamb, which 
I have but indifferently expressed in a corner of 



30S XETTTEUS OF 

my paper, and a demure contented look in an ox, 
which in the fear of expressing still worse, I leave 
unattempted. 

Business calls me away ; I must dispatch my 
letter ; yet what does it contain ? No matter ; you 
like any thing better than news. Indeed you never 
toid me so, but I have an intuitive knowledge upon 
the subject, from the sympathy which I have con- 
stantly perceived in the taste of Julia and Cher 
Jean. What is it to you or me 

If here in the city we have nothing but riot,^ 
If the Spital-field Weavers can't be kept quret. 
If the weather is fine, or the streets should be dirty. 
Or if Mr. Dick Wilson died aged of thirty ? 

—But if I was to hearken to the versifying grum- 
bling I feel within me I should fill my paper, and 
not have room left to intreat that you would plead 
my cause to Honora more eloquently than the in- 
closed letter has the power of doing. Apropos of 
verses, you desire me to recollect my random de- 
scription of the engaging appearance of the charm- 
ing Mrs. . Here it is at your service : 

Then rustling and bustling the Lady comes down. 
With a flaming red face, and a broad yellow gown, 
And a hobbling out-of-breath g^t, and a frown. 

This little French cousin of ours, Delarise, was 
my sister Mary's play-fellow at Paris. His spright- 
liness engages my sisters extremely. Doubtless 
they talk much of him to you in their letters. 



MAJOR JOHN ANDRB. 209 

How sorry I am to bid you adieu ; Oh let me 
not be forgot by the friends most dear to you at 
Lichfield ! Lichfield ! Ah ! of what magic letters 
is that little word composed ! How graceful it looks 
when it is written ! Let nobody talk to me of its 
original meaning — " *The field of blood !'* Oh ! 
no such thing ! It is the field of joy ! " The beau- 
tiful city, that lifts her fair head in the valley and 
says, I am^ and there is none beside me !'* Who 
saiys she is vain ? Julia will not say so, nor yet Ho- 
nora, and least of all their devoted 

J. ANDRE. 



* Field of Blood. — Here is a small mistake— Lichfield 
is not the field of blood, but " the field of dead bodies," 
alluding to a battle fought between the Romans and the 
British Christians in the Dioclesian persecutionj when the 
latter were massacred. Three slain kings, with their 
burying-place, now 15an-owcop-hiD, and the Cathedral in 
miniature, form the city-arms. Lich is still a word in 
UEC. The church-yard gates, through which funerals 
pass, are often called Lich-gates, vulgarly Light-gates. 



S 2 



::iO LETTERS OP 



LETTER nL 



f Claptoiiy J^twcmher 1, 1^69. 

XVX Y ears still ring with the sounds of Oh- 
Jack ! Oh Jack ! How do the dear Lichfieldians ^ 
—What do they say ?— What are they about ?— 
What did i/ow do while you were with them ? — 
Have patience, said I, good people ! and began my 
story, which they devoured vith as much joyful 
avidity as x\dam did Gabriel's tidings of Heaven. 
My mother and sisters are all very well, and de- 
lighted with their little Frenchman, who is a very 
agreeable lad. 

Surely you applaud the fortitude with which 
I left you 1 Did I not come off with flying colours ? 
It was a great effort, for, alas ! this recreant heart 
did not second the smiling courage of the counter 
nance ; nor is it yet as it ought to be, from the 
hopes it may reasonably entertain of seeing you all 
again e'er the winter's dreary hours are past. Ju- 
lia, my dear Julia, gild them with tidings of our be- 
loved Honora ! Oh that you may be enabled to tell 
me that she regains her health, and her charming 
vivacity ! Your sympathizing heart partakes all the 
joys and pains of your friends. Never can I forget 
its kind offices, which were of such moment to my 
peace ! ^'Hnc is formed for friendship, .and I am 



MAJOR JOHN ANDUE. 211 

blest in being able to place so nvell the purest pas- 
sion of an ingenuous mind ! How am 1 honoured 
in Mr. and Mrs. Seward's attachment to me 1 
Charming were the anticipations which beguiled 
the long tracts of hill, and dale, and plain, that di- 
vide London from Lichfield ! With what delight 
my eager eyes drank their first view of the dear 
spires I What rapture did I not feci on entering 
your gates ! in flying up the hall steps ! in rushing 
into the dining-room ! in meeting the gladden'd 
eyes of our dear Julia and her enchanting friend ! 
That instant convinced me of the truth of Rous- 
seau's observation, " that there are moments worth 
ages." Shall not those moments return ? Ah Ju- 
lia ! the cold hand of absence is heavy upon the 
heart of your poor Cher Jean ! He is forced to ham- 
mer in to it perpetually every consoling argument 
that the magic wand of Hope can conjure up ; viz. 
that every moment of industrious absence advances 
his journey, you knov^ whither. I may sometimes 
make excursions to Lichfield, and bask in the light 
of my Honora*s eyes 1 Sustain me Hope ! nothing 
on my part shall be wanting which may induce 
thee io fulfil thy blossoming promises. 

The happy social circle, Julia, Honora, Miss 

S n, Miss B n, her brother, Mr. S e, 

Mr.- R n, 8cc. &c. are now, perhaps, enliven- 
ing your dressing-room, the dear blue region^ as 
Honora calls it, with the sensible observation, the 
tasteful criticism, or the elegant song ; dreadmg 
the irontongue of the nine o'clock bcii, which dis- 
perses the beings, whom friendship and kindred 
virtues liad drawn together. My imagination at*- 



Si2 LETTERS OF 

taches itself to a//, even the inanimate objects 
which surround Honora and her Julia ; that have 
beheld their graces and virtues expand and ripen ; , 
my dear Honora's from their infant bud. 

The sleepy Claptonian train ai'e gone to bed, some- 
what wearied with their excursion to Enfield, whith- 
er they have this day carried their favourite little 
Frenchman ; so great a favourite, the parting was 
quite tragical. I walked hither from town, as usual 
tonight J no hour of the twenty-four is sopreciousi 
to me as that devoted to this solitary walk. Oh, 
my friend ! I am far from possessing the patient i 
frame of mind which I so continually invoke 1 1 
Why is Lichfield an hundred and twenty miles; 
from me ? There is no moderation in the distance II 
Fifty or sixty miles had been a great deal too much, 
but then,) there would have been less opposition: 
from authority to my frequent visits ; I conjure 
you, supply the want of these blessings by frequent 
letters ; I must not, will not ask them of Honora, 
since the use of the pen is forbid to her declining, 
health ; I will content myself, as usual, with a post 
script from her in your epistles. My sisters are 
charmed with the packet which arrived yesterdays 
and which they will answer soon. 

As yet I have said nothing of our journey. We 
met an entertaining Irish Gentleman at Dunchurch. 
iind, being fellow- sufferers in Cold and hunger, 
joined interests, ordered four horses, and stuffed 
three in a chaise. It is not to t/ow, I need apolo- 
gize for talking in raptures of an Highler, whom 
^ve met on our road. His cart had passed us, anc] 



MAJOR JOHN ANDRE. Si9 

■was at a considerable distance, when, looking backj 
he perceived that our chaise had stopped, and that 
the driver seemed mending something. He ran 
up to him, and with a face full of honest anxiety, 
pity, good-nature, and every sweet affection under 
Heaven, asked him if he wanted any thing ? that 
he had plenty of nails, ropes, &c. in his cart That 
wretch of a postillion made no other reply than, 
*' We want nothing Master.'* From the same 
impulse the good Irishman, Mr. Till, and myself, 
thrust our heads instantly out of the chaise, and 
tried to recompense to the honest creature this 
surly reply, by every kind and grateful acknow- 
ledgment, and by forcing upon him a little pecu- 
niary tribute. My benevolence will be the warmer, 
while I live, for the treasured remembrance of this 
Highler*s countenance. 

I know you interest yourself in my destiny : I 
have now completely subdued my aversion to the 
profession of a merchant, and hope in time to ac- 
quire an inclination for it. Yet. God forbid I should 
ever love what I am to make the object of my at- 
tention ? that vile trash, which I care not for, but 
only as it may be the future means of procuring 
the blessing of my soul. Thus all my mercantile 
calculations go to the tune of dear Honora. When 
an impertinent consciousness whispers in my ear, 
that I am not of the right stuff for a merchant, I 
draw my Honora's picture from my bosom, and the 
sight of that dear Talisman so inspirits my indus- 
try, that no toil appears oppressive. 

The poetic task you set mc is in a sad method j 



2U LETTERS, Sec. 

xiiy head and heart are too full of other matter* : 
be engro sed by a draggle tail'd wench of the ]|it 
liconicin puddle. j r 

I am going to try my interest m parliament ; Kj^r 
you stare ! it is to procure a frank. Be so gel ) 
to give the inclosed to Honora ; it will speak^f', 
her ; and do you say erery thing that is kind for : ** 
to every other distinguished friend of the dressii- 
room circle ; encourage them in their obliging « » 
sire of scribbling in your letters, but don't let Xhtii 
take Honora's corner of the sheet. !l 

Adieu ! — May you all possess that cheerfulnc 
denied to your Cher Jean. I fear it hurts my ir 
ther to see my musing moods ; but I can neitlj: 
lielp nor overcome them. The near hopes of aD[ 
ther excursion to Lichfield, could alone dispeii 
every gloomy vapour of my imagination. 
Again, and vet a gam, adieu ! 

J. ANDREW 

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